Time And Time Again
by ObligatoryCoolName
Summary: Life was happy. Key word: Was. As life for me was short-lived, that is until I was given a second chance at life. Now I am trapped in the harsh world of Remnant, a world full of feuding gods, the Grimm, and an interdimensional war. Sounds wonderful. Yet... in the end, a single pawn, unknown to the enemy, might be enough to change the world. (SI-OC.)
1. Chapter 1

**Age 2**

I think it is fair to say that a wrench has been thrown in my plans for life.

A fairly large, annoying, and terrifying wrench.

Now you might be thinking, I'm just a 2 year old? How can I possibly even have plans for my life, or even be able to think logically for myself?

It starts to fall along the line of a really complicated process of reincarnation, that after a couple years of philosophy pandering has only sought to confuse me even more. So I'll give you the SparkNotes version.

I lived a life in Earth, happy and all, all the flowers and sunshine you'll think of a normal life. Still, I'd use the term 'normal' lightly, as there are plenty of smaller stories scattered within, but for all intents and purposes, imagine my life as some backstory you'd find in a 'c' rated Bollywood movie.

Long story short, I died, not one of my happiest points. I kind of wish I was able to say that I went out in some blaze and glory, I wish I could say that I died saving the lives of hundreds of people, yet my death was a lot tamer. It started out kind of how you'd expect, I was in college and got sick. And because I had so little money and didn't want to spend it on a doctor I ignored it until it actually became too much to handle and I had to have my parents take me to the doctor. Fast forward a day, and the doctor said, it is probably, keyword probably, the flu, prescribed me some medication and sent me back on my merry way. Took it for a while, a while being a week or two, things didn't get better, I passed out one day, ended up in a hospital and died two days later.

That... that was not a fun time.

You might say that I shouldn't be afraid of death since it is an inevitability. Well, plenty of things are an inevitability, the death of loved ones, growing old, and going to the doctor, yet I'm still afraid of them nonetheless. I suppose I could say that I wouldn't have been afraid of death if I have lived a full life, but I _didn't_ , which is where my main fear stems from. How much of my life did I miss?

Eh, enough semantics for one night. I still need to figure out who sits on the Iron Throne.

But, in the end, death was... it was awakening. Not in the way of I'm enlightened and know everything, but in the way that a lot of the things I thought as important previously now aren't. Nothing says that overdue library books are rather unimportant like dying.

Anyways, here's where things go from sad to interesting. I got reincarnated. It was even hard for me to believe at first, and it was only after my first year in my new life was I only able to confirm it.

That first year… was interesting. I guess as a child my brain wasn't nearly developed enough to process my late teen mind, so for that first year it was a mixture of losing time, being barely able to see, feel, or really do anything with my senses, and incoherent movements trying to figure out where the hell I am in a world full of darkness and confusion.

It was... fun. For the first 5 minutes. After that it was absolute hell.

But, after that first year was I able to gain enough control in order to see the world around me and to finally realize, as I stated, that I'd been reincarnated. That was quite the experience.

And here's where things go from interesting to 'what the fuck'. Imagine if you were just reincarnated. You would think something along the lines of being given a second chance. A chance in order to fix the things you did wrong, or even help the people who you left behind in your previous life, but things weren't that simple, as I got reincarnated in Remnant. As in the Remnant from RWBY.

As much as I'd like to say there was a 'Holy fuck' moment where I realized I was in RWBY, that wasn't the case. Right off the bat, I could tell something was off. Why wasn't there any mention of anything I recognized? Why did the city in which I lived feel so different? Why the hell were there people walking around with animal features?

Yet at the same time, while there wasn't a moment of realization that I was in RWBY, there was a moment of realization that I was in fact in the world of RWBY. I was in a harsh and underdeveloped world, where people are as dangerous as the monsters that prowl through the forests. I was in a world where it was a necessity to train kids from a young age to combat the threats that plagued this world, full well knowing they probably wouldn't live to see their retirement parties. I was in a world that was tipping on the edge of annihilation, teetering desperately away in an attempt to prolong what they don't want to face.

And this world became my reality.

...

Life was not happy for a while.

For a bit I finally succumbed to the lack of mental processing, it had taken its toll on my brain, I couldn't physically deal with it anymore. There are now just a lot of black spots in my memory, and even now just at the thought of that time period, I still shiver slightly.

And looking back, I now realize it was at that moment did I finally realize life wasn't going to be as simple as I wish it could've been.

And it was at that very moment did things finally click. I was a regular human being in a world full of monsters, gods, and demons posing as men and women. I was a regular human that is in no way special compared to the exorbitant amount of humans that already exist in this world. And I was going to survive, and one way or another, I was going to win, and despite all the things against me, Salem would bleed.

* * *

 **Age 3**

So, what is it, a year later?

You start to lose track.

As time passes and I start to regain more and more of my functions, things start to click in more. I started to gain back more focus on my vision, the blur of sounds started to mesh together into something more coherent, and the fuzziness in my feeling focused more and more as said fuzziness turned into pinpricks.

The first thing I noticed... everyone spoke English. Thank _god_.

The second thing... I wasn't in a normal home. I was in an orphanage. Living either in denial by my parents, or living in the wake of dead ones. I don't exactly have many ways to figure out what happened to them, and I doubt I'm going to any time soon, as far as I'm aware, to every person to works at the orphanage I was one of those kids that was found alone, and with no one to care for them, and no documentation of relatives, I was just sent to the orphanage. I was the kind of kid who'd grow up, leave the orphanage, most likely to join the military, and never be seen again. I wasn't special in any sort of way.

The only thing I was left, was my body, my determination and a name, Caerus Ferrum.

I mean, yeah sure, the name was kinda geeky. Either my parents were Julius Caesar and Calpurnia, or my parents were obsessed with Latin as a language. Or maybe my name holds some secret meaning, I've yet to realize.

Well, I'm a kid again, so I can dream of these fantasies.

That isn't the first thing I've been able to figure out. Another one is that I'm currently in Atlas. Which is cool and all, I kinda would've preferred it to be Vale, so I could befriend the main cast, but as long as it isn't some town which implodes 2 years into my birth, I'm fine with that.

The orphanage isn't anything special, it's called Guardian Orphanage, with the idea that the people working there are going to be the guardians for the children until they grow up and the orphanage kicks them out. Like I said, nothing special. It's located a little westwards from downtown Atlas, and it's basically the orphanage that anyone goes to because of the fact that it is right there.

And naturally with this being Atlas, and the home to the Schnee Dust Company and plenty of other, powerful yet questionable companies, Faunus happiness is at an all time low.

And on the note of a faunus… apparently, I'm one.

You might think that's really cool, but let me ask you a question.

If you were to be reincarnated as a Black Person, after being not one, or some other minority, you wouldn't think it was that special. Well, if you came from a world that didn't have them, you might have thought it was special for a short period until you realized it literally changes nothing.

Doesn't change discrimination though, I suppose working at an orphanage, with a lot of kids who think they are cool gives you severe anger issues, so many of the people who work here would rather ignore me.

To be fair, however, I don't really care about most of that stuff, considering that I'm in actuality something like a 19-year-old in the body of a 3-year-old, so I don't exactly need the approval of some random woman in an orphanage.

Although I suppose with strings of bad luck, something was bound to go my way eventually. While I could have gotten something like a bunny, or a bird. Something that while is cool, could be cooler (No offense Velvet). I got a wolf, or dog, or mutt, or whatever you wanna call it, which is objectively cooler (Sorry again Velvet).

No, I don't get sharp teeth, razor claws, and a long fluffy tail. The one physical difference I do get it wolf ears. And it does help, with two sets of ears you can hear things with surprising clarity. Something I use to my advantage as a young child, because the conversations of a bored woman who volunteers at an orphanage are infinitely times more entertaining than watching a 2-year-old barf for the umpteenth time.

Yet at the same time it's another thing in my life I have to worry about, something shoved upon my shoulders to burden for my next, and hopefully long lived, life.

Part of me wishes that I had just stayed dead.

* * *

 **Age 5**

Now me being a nerd immediately wanted to search the differences between Remnant and the Earth I know.

It wasn't as easy as you might think, but eventually I found a way. In what the kids call the 'Mess Room' of the orphanage is a lone computer, which technically can be used by any kid. Notice how I said 'technically', because the people who work at the orphanage will only let you use it if, and only if, you ask them 30 minutes in advance, have someone watching over your shoulder, know how to work the computer in the first place, have permission from the head council in Atlas, have God come down and whisper in their ears to let you use it, and have the planets align while both the summer and winter solstice is going on.

Or you could just walk up to it and turn it on. Remember kids, it's always easier to get forgiveness than permission. Except if you're doing drugs... drugs and vegemite.

But back to the point of differences.

The main problem is that once you spend enough time in a separate world, the facts from the previous world start to meld together with the new ones you are learning.

History is obviously different, although it does follow along with the lines of there used to be a super continent which split up into the Remnant I know, although one very interesting note is that a lot of prehistoric civilizations have almost no documentation on them.

Technology is both inferior and more advanced than Earth. Through the use of dust mechanization of Remnant has increased tenfold, allowing for the creation of bullheads, mechanized soldiers, and the grand towering buildings you see in Atlas, with some fancy moving parts.

However scientifically they are far behind. There is practically no venture into space, they do share the heliocentric idea, and they do know the approximate size of the visible universe, but when you get into the nitty gritty, they still have a lot to learn. When they think of science, they don't think of hypothetical particles that may interact in a certain way to explain an unknown situation, they think of something that will eventually help us. So a lot of more in depth sciences have been pardoned for continued survival.

See where I'm going? It seems as if Remnant has a much more down to earth idea in terms of science, a lot along the lines of, if we can figure something out, how can it benefit us? If it doesn't benefit us, research something else.

What's the point in this then? I'm really not that sure. I've read the fanfics, generally, when someone is sent into a fictional world they gain some guidance, be it some godlike being, or just a simple note card saying, "Good luck, you're gonna die!" I was expecting they could at least say something like, "You have knowledge of things no one knows about, make yourself useful and spread it." But no, nothing.

I've already established that my end goal is to somehow stop Salem, yet my path to it is a lot more tortuous than I would have initially thought, even from just a simple planning phase.

I mean, I could become a scientist, or some technician, or even some sort of general, things that would always keep me relatively out of harm's way, things where I can still help with my knowledge.

Yet at the same time, it just feels off, like if I'm going to help, I might as well be on the front lines. I doubt I'm going to save as many people sitting behind some desk hundreds of miles away from the action.

One way or another, this choice may or may not put the lives of hundreds, maybe even thousands of people right in my hands.

What the actual fuck life?

* * *

 **Age 7**

Kids are evil, kids are mischievous, kids won't sit down, if you tell a kid to stop, he'll do the exact opposite. Kids are literally the devil incarnate.

It's something I've quickly learned. However, this, THIS, takes the cake.

It started out innocent enough, being camped up in an orphanage all day makes your muscles itch, so when some kids suggested the idea of sneaking out during the night to go to a nearby forest, I was all ears, well wolf ears.

Except, now that I'm here I realize it was only an excuse to do something against the rules because now all the kids are doing is acting like they just broke the law and now they are fugitives. Gossiping about their criminal name, and how they are going to eliminate their enemies and get back at that one kid at the orphanage whom they don't like.

Maybe not to that extent, but you get my point.

I thought once we got out we'd do something actually exciting, hell even if we just played tag I'd be a lot more excited. I just wanted to get out to actually do something.

And considering the fact I doubt this will change anytime soon, due to the fact that kids are stubborn gits, I was heavily debating heading back the orphanage. Yet some trivial interest in hoping that something will change leaves me standing here as the kids gather in groups doing their own thing, and partially the notion of me being terrified to head back to the orphanage on my own. But for the sake of my ego I'm going to stick with the notion of waiting for something interesting to happen.

But whatever excuse you use for me not heading back eventually I found myself lying against some large oak-ish tree, finding the needle like bark a lot more comfortable than the stone like dirt.

Because mother of hell this is starting to get...

The fuck?

I could've sworn that it was just me hallucinating, but I just saw something move out in the distance. Although it was hard to make out, even with my faunus enhanced eyesight it was still just a blur.

Although it was probably nothing, my paranoid side jumps to the worst conclusion and tells myself that it was a Grimm.

And suddenly, just like that, the forest didn't seem nearly as inviting. It almost feels like the woods just got a lot darker, with the trees looming overhead ready to capture and stray child, and like every bush is just a hiding place for a potentially dangerous monster.

So naturally, I quickly got up and went to Slate, the so-called leader of the group.

He's an interesting kid, 14 years old, pitch black hair, blue eyes, tall and strong, yet one of the nicer kids you'll find at the orphanage, part of the reason why so many kids look up to him. There's even been a rumor that he has been training to become a huntsman, or at the very least part of the Atlas military.

It was probably redundant to head over to him, as I was most likely infinitely more competent in staying alive, but considering the fact that I'm here right now, and that giving this over to him gives me plausible deniability, I started pacing over to him.

"Hey," I said tapping him on his shoulder, as he was chatting with some younger girls who seemed to giggle at everything he said like he is some sort of comedic god.

He turns around, and I can see the girls glare at me unhappy with me ruining their makeout session, but nonetheless, he smiles a bit saying, "What's up?"

"I think I saw something," I mutter while my eyes dart from him to the bush where I supposedly saw movement.

"Something?" he interrogates playfully with a tinge of sarcasm.

I pause for a second, almost to add some dramatic suspense, and then ever so quietly I whisper "Grimm."

And just like that, just like someone turning off a light switch, the area around me seems to dip down tens of degrees, the wide and open field turning from a safe haven to a death pit, as kids several feet away start looking around fearfully at the mention of the boogeyman of Remnant, if it weren't for the real danger I might have laughed slightly.

He glances at the area I was looking at beforehand, seemingly caught on why I was so on edge.

Nothing moves causing him to look down at me and ask, "You sure you saw something? His voice quivering, telling me the notion that he just hopes it's nothing, and not that he actually doesn't believe me.

"I wouldn't be telling you if I didn't believe myself," I say, steadfast in my assumption. While I actually wasn't, I had been here long enough and felt that the longer we stayed it, the more dangerous it was starting to become.

He glances at the hill again, this time walking towards it, a small group of kids following far behind him, walking as silently as possible as if death is breathing down their very shoulder.

Step by everlasting eternal step he creeps closer to the edge of the clearing until he reaches the edge.

And then it happens.

Before anyone of us can even scream, a beowolf jumps out of the bush, heading right for Slate. Unlike what I would have thought, there is no loud rustle of the bushes, no unearthly roar, in fact as the beowolf was mid-air, and as I watch Slate in horror, it was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

And yet, just like that, all hell breaks loose, the previously quiet field suddenly being pierced by screams, causing all the other Grimm hiding to break from their hiding and attack any nearby kid, turning the woods into a bloodbath in just an instant.

I, however, am left standing in fear as the beowolf ravages Slate, his screams punctuating the air making my muscles tense up the point it hurts. Unable to do anything as his body gets more distorted with each brutal attack from the beowolf.

I don't know what I did, maybe I made too much noise, maybe I made some sudden movement, maybe the beowolf was just tired of mauling Slate, but the beowolf turned up from his prey and looked right at me. That's when I truly realized how screwed I was, blood glistened off of its maw, as it growled an unholy growl that shakes the very earth around me, all punctuated by the dying chokes of Slate, as he suffocates on his own blood.

And then the Beowolf lunges.

Generally when this happens people say that time slows down, and everything becomes crystal clear in one last moment of clarity before they die.

But it didn't. I didn't have my life flash before my eyes, I didn't have some epiphany, I could only stare down at the beowolf as it closes the gap towards me.

And as a last-ditch effort to stay alive, I raised my right hand, hoping some invisible force would guard me against the beowolf. And in that second everything came out. All the terror from my childhood, all the stress from being reborn, all the pain from losing everything I had.

It all came out in a scream, not one of anger, or of fear, but just one of catharsis. One that summed up everything I have experienced. A scream against life, against all I had experienced. A scream protesting against death.

And it's that moment did something finally click inside me, something finally revealed, something I didn't know I was missing. As it's then, did light blue electricity dance off of my fingers. And it's then, did time slow down, not for my impending death but for the subtle beauty of the electricity.

It formed a bridge between my fingers, the air around it crackling and popping as it slowly ramped up, forming larger and more violent jumps, seeming to illuminate the entire forest around me, and then some. And then, like a weapon guided by a god, the lightning bolt left my fingers and struck the beowolf right in the head.

With a sound all too similar to thunder, it crashed into the beowolf, the loud bang echoing into the air around us, with the strength to send a shockwave heading in all directions.

Immediately the awful smell of flesh burning filled the air, and with a gentle crackle, the Grimm tumbled through the air, now dead, and on top of me. All while I fell backward, the weight of the beowolf pushing me over, recounting what just happened with mix fear and awe.

Not believing the Grimm was completely dead I started crawling away, as it lied unmoving.

And with that, like I was pulled out of some pool of water, the world returned to focus, the subtle drum of my heart was replaced by the agonized screams of the kids as they were killed beside me, yet through that all I could hear the sound of a bullhead approaching from the distance, safety.

Yet my eyes were drawn to a single thing, Slate, his mangled body covered in blood. His screams of pain have long since died down, the only sign of his life remaining being the almost non-existent rise and fall of his chest.

Up, and down, up and down.

I wanted to go up to him and say it was going to be safe, that he was going to survive, yet I was rooted in my position, scared at what I just witnessed, scared that…

And everything went black as something struck me on my neck.

* * *

 **Eh.**

 **Stupid plot bunnies and their incessant pestering.**

 **I think you've figured out at this point what this is, and honestly, this just happened. I wanted to write this, so I pulled out my computer and started writing, and this came out.**

 **Now I'm 90% sure someone will accuse me of copying 'Reiteration', and while that is partially true if you go down to the very basics. Yes I am using the same idea of a reborn character, yes he goes to an orphanage, and yes he awakens his semblance against the Grimm. But, I'll be honest, one it is a good way of getting things across, and two it really isn't that unique when you come to it. I still can't completely say that this is not inspired by 'Reiteration', however, as the story goes on I'll try to have the plot diverge more and more.**

 **The faunus decision… first off, I just thought it would be cool, haven't seen an SI-OC with the person becoming a faunus, so why not I might try it. Second, after thinking about it I thought it might make a good addition, further apply a sense of loneliness to the character. And, meh, I wanted to experiment. And for what species I chose, it took a bit, I wanted something that seemed interesting to read, first I went with a lizard, but honestly it just feels off having the main character with something like that. So I ended up doing wolf because FUCK IT and I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT DAD! I'M A REAL BOY!**

 **Also, this is an SI-OC, while the characters do have some aspects from me, most of it is a character I created solely for the purpose of this story.**

 **Anyways, follow, favorite, review, all the spiel, but mostly review, I'm always up for some tips on how to improve my writing.**

 **Until Next Time**

 **EDIT: I just changed some wording to make it a bit more interesting, and fixed some little grammatical issues.**


	2. Chapter 2

When I first awoke, I thought I was suspended in mid-air.

Everything was a dull fuzz. Colors meshed together in some form of abstract art, sounds were more like distant echoes droning on longer than they should have. Everything just felt slow and sluggish.

So naturally the question of if I had died again arose, but the longer I was awake, and the more my senses awoke I eventually realized I was in fact, still alive.

Go figure.

The first thing I realized was the acrid smell of chemicals and overly sanitized materials, my nose instinctively scrunching up at the unpleasant smell, as it was a smell I was all too familiar with before my death. It brought back more than a few unpleasant memories.

The second was the occasional annoyingly loud beeping that is slowly driving me insane and the 'clip-clop' of nearby footsteps and the whirring sound of metal trays being wheeled around.

So it didn't take that long for me to deduce that I was in a hospital, and that was only confirmed when I finally was able to open my eyes.

The room seemed like every other hospital room I've seen. I'm on some metal bed with uncomfortably thin sheets that feel like they are made of tissue paper, a window to my right with a view of the Atlesian skyline, a barren nightstand with a lamp on the right of my bed. A television across my bed that was turned off, two chairs also across my bed with a small table in between them, and a large machine to my left, that was the source of the ever so annoying beeps, with tubes running into my left arm.

Part of me immediately had a panic attack, the machine speeding up to match my fear. Last time I was in here I died, and while I know I'm most likely not going to die, I'm still terrified. I wanted to jump out of the bed, rip the tubes from my arm and run away and never look back.

I had too many bad experiences in hospitals.

Yet at the same time, I know the hospital would go on an angry crusade if I did so, so I had to calm down and take deep breaths to slow my heart rate down, with the hope that my mind would calm. My eyes drifing over to the window, and looking out, trying to find a distraction.

The view, well it looked nice. The Atlesian buildings lighting up like Christmas light in the night sky, the distant sounds of commerce going on despite how late at night it was, the far off sight of an Atlesian military base with subtle movements of things coming in and out.

It was nice looking at, a far better change than the senses that assaulted my ears and nostrils.

* * *

I am awakened from my half-asleep slumber to the sound of the doorknob to my room twisting.

My head jerks up from the pillow as I glance apprehensively at the door waiting to see who's going to enter, even though I practically know the answer.

And sure enough, a nurse walks in. She takes a glance at me, and seeing that I'm awake quickly rushes towards my bedside, and glances at the large machine checking to make sure that I'm not going to implode seconds later.

After apparently everything checks out she turns to me and asks, "How are you feeling sweetie?"

I blink a couple of times as my mind is still running sluggishly. "Oh, good I guess," I mumble, my wolf ears drooping downwards having been reminded of what took place a day or two ago.

"Good to hear," she replies either looking optimistically or ignoring my pessimism, "Can you tell me your name?"

Uh… oh yeah, just checking for brain injuries, I guess. I'm not familiar with practices in medical institutions.

"Caerus Ferrum," I squeeze out, my parched throat making itself known shortly afterward by a coughing fit.

I see her face widen in recognition as she runs out the room and comes back with a bottle of water shortly afterward, which I happily devour.

Once I finish drinking she continues, "Okay, can you tell me what happened before you were injured?"

"Uhh," I stammer for a second trying to recall my memories, "Me and some other kids had snuck out of the orphanage to go to the forest. Things… things were just kinda calm, but, I thought I saw something. So I go to tell some other kids when Grimm started attacking us."

I pause for a second trying to push out some of the more harmful memories, "And, uh, one thing led to another," I say, wanting to avoid the part with Slate, "and then I think I got knocked out."

"Okay sweetie," the nurse continues having heard what I said, "is there anything else that happened?"

Uhh... I mean, kids died, the Beowolves were scary, I might have soiled my pants... and oh yeah! "I think I woke my aura and my semblance, although I'm not that sure."

"Luckily for you, you did awake your aura which was able to protect you for the short period of time before the Atlas Military arrived," she informs seeing my hesitation on that subject.

She pauses for a second letting me digest that information and how I could've died. "Wait," I say remembering about someone else, "what happened to Slate?"

Her face immediately becomes a bit downtrodden only confirming my suspicions, "He, unfortunately, died in surgery."

"Oh," was the only response I could muster up. I was never that close to him, but to most of the kids, partially including me, he was a beacon of stability among the orphanage. He was that one nice kid that a lot of people looked up to. After experiences death myself, it always was a sore topic for myself, something that I would never quite come to terms with. It is never something I would wish upon someone else.

It left a sore feeling in my throat, and even the world seemed out to get me as it felt like my brain was slowly being crushed by some eldritch force.

"Are you feeling alright sweetie?" the nurse asks again, breaking me out of my trance as she rests her hand on mine.

"Yeah," I mutter looking down at my hands, "I think."

After a couple seconds, she stands up and brushes herself off, rusting my hair with her hand, giving me a little scratch behind one ear. "Alright," she says, "I'm going to check up with the other nurses. Do you have any questions?"

"Uh, yeah," I say looking up at her, "How long was I out?"

"About little less than a day," she responds, "it's currently 9:48 PM. You were attacked yesterday at 11:24."

Oh, I suppose that's better than being unconscious for several days straight, despite the fact that there wouldn't have been much for me to miss.

"Thanks. I guess," I respond.

"Anytime," she says, a large smile on her face, "and if you need anything, there's a button to your right, it will alert me as soon as you press it."

I glance to the right, and there indeed is a button next to the bed I must have missed in my cursory examination of the room.

She leaves the room which leaves me here by myself. I look out the window into the dark night, and in the distance, way off, beyond the military base, I can barely make out the forest in which I was attacked. And despite the distance, it still feels as if any second Grimm are going to spring out from the forest and attack me. And for the second time in my life in Remnant, since my rebirth, I felt completely vulnerable.

* * *

So, I was able to fall asleep again, although I didn't sleep easily, both from nightmares and from the fact I had been asleep for the past day it wasn't easy, but I was able to do it nonetheless.

The nurse had already come and greeted me this morning with a tray full of dry and bland hospital food that reminded me all too much of the stuff they serve on airplanes that masquerade as edible. Honestly, making people eat that stuff is a war-crime.

She basically was doing another check up telling me afterward that I would probably be out in about a day or two.

With that done she turned on the TV, per my request, and put it on some kid show she probably expected a 7-year-old to watch, some kid show about a group of hunters saving the world, in all its colorful and optimistic fashion.

I quickly turned it to the news channels right as she left.

It appeared as if half of them had covered the attack in the forest, as I some of them were still slightly following up on previous stories about the attack, although apparently, it had already died down, as small as it originally was, and they were focusing on some new news, something about the upcoming Vytal Festival I won't go to for several years, mostly because I didn't have the money to buy a ticket, and the orphanage doesn't exactly have field trips to the Vytal Festival.

So imagine my surprise when the nurse came into my room with the news that I had a visitor. For a second I was speechless, but she asked if I was up for it, to which I replied yes, more out of curiosity than anything else.

I had no idea who would want to visit me. The owner of the orphanage could, although I know she is busy enough already, some of the kids could, although I was never that close to them. And for a second I considered that it might have been my birth parents, but that is even more ridiculous than the previous two guesses.

But I wasn't even close, it was James Ironwood, as in the James Fucking Ironwood, the man who is practically a legend in Atlas, the man who is the figurehead of Atlas, the man who practically _is Atlas._

But then I partially came to terms. He isn't quite the legend in Atlas as he is during the canon events. He's known yes, mostly for his rise in the military, and while it is honoring to see him, it isn't quite like god coming down to ask how you are doing.

He walked in, hands behind his back, and rigid as a steel pipe, his presence seeming to instill a sense of respect in the room, the chairs even seeming to line up in a perfect 45-degree angle from the wall. He glanced at me for a second from the doorway asking, "May I enter?"

It takes me a second to respond, my mind still running in circles. "Oh, Yes!" I practically shout, quickly adding on "sir," afterward.

He strides in and pulls up a nearby chair and rests it next to my bed, sitting on it shortly afterward, his large size making the chair look like it was made for preschoolers.

"How are you feeling?" he asks, staring right at me.

It, again, takes a second for my mind to comprehend what he asks, and another to respond, "Better," is the only word I am able to say, the rest of my thought dying within my throat.

"Good to hear," he continues, "you have my condolences for what happened two nights ago."

"Oh," I respond not quite believing him, "thanks."

For a second nothing happens and I stare down at my lap, my faunus ears angled down in thought while he just stares at me. "I must say, it is quite impressive for someone of your age to be able to kill a beowolf."

"Oh?" I mutter, unsure where he is going with this.

He stares at me for a second as if he thinks I don't know what I'm talking about, "Many huntsmen in training will train months on end to face their first beowolf in a controlled and safe environment. Yet you were able to kill one without any previous fighting experience on your first try, without armor and weapons. Not only that, but you were able to awaken your semblance, a feat most people wouldn't have done until double your age, and use it in order to save yourself."

He pauses for a short second, "You have made yourself to be a very progressive child at your young age."

I snort in amusement as I start connecting the dots to why he is here, he wants to rope me into becoming a huntsman, "Guess I'm kinda special then," I joked.

"In a way you are," he responds looking me in the eye, "I'm guessing you are aware who I am."

I nod

"That saves some time," he says straightening up, "As a member of Atlas Academy it is my duty to protect her with all my strength, yet something I've learned is that I always need help. So as much as it is my duty to protect Atlas, it is also my duty to find those who show that they have potential to be more than most people could ever hope to be. And in my pursuit for those who show incredible promise, I have found my way towards you."

Oh…

He continues, however, "From what I can garner, you are different, and from what I can see, you know that also. You show surprising maturity for someone your age, and show an uncanny control over your semblance. And it's why, as a leader of the Atlesian Military Force, I would like to offer you a scholarship at Mountain Academy, once you become of age 13."

oh...

Mountain Academy is basically the Signal Academy of Atlas. It's the school in which huntsmen in training go to before they head to Atlas Academy. Part of me says to jump right on the train, since I just was given the option, but at the same time… I just don't know. I'm still wary at the prospect of fighting, even more so after I was attacked.

Still, his speech was about as bland and scripted as it could be. It would most likely have worked on an actual kid, getting them all hyped for becoming a huntsmen. Still it did partially get the job done, but it wasn't enough.

"Do I have time to think about this?" I ask hoping that he'll say yes.

"Yes," he answers, "I won't force you to make this decision right now."

I mean, I'm going to eventually say yes. I'm being handed this situation on a silver platter, turning it down is like, I don't know, turning down the opportunity to meet your... something.

"Here," he added reaching behind him, "do you know what this is?"

He pulls out a metal device and hands it to me. At a brief glance it appears to be a metal rectangle bisected down the middle with curved edges and an orange diamond in the center, but at a closer inspection, it appears to be more.

With both hands, ignoring the pain in my shoulder, I grab each edge and yank it apart. It slides open and a screen appears, showing the logo for Atlas Mechanicals, the orange crossed diamonds with the mechanical sword running down the middle.

It's a scroll, and by how I operated it, it appears Ironwood got the sense that I know how it works.

"Good," he continues in his stoic as ever voice, "my contact information is on that scroll. I'll give you the time to make up your mind, and once you do feel free to contact me with your response."

I continue looking at the scroll as it boots up.

"Besides that, you are free to keep the scroll," he informed, "it is connected to the CCTS, allowing you full access to the internet, and if becomes damaged you'll get a single free replacement."

"I do hope that I will see you in 6 years time, as we could always use people like you in Mountain," he says with a small smile on his face, as he tries his best to look as comforting and inspirational as possible.

Ironwood, while a genius general, isn't the diplomat that he wishes himself to be.

"In a way I envy you," he starts, to which I mentally roll my eyes and think 'of course you do', "you've been dealt a bad hand. You haven't had the protection that other kids have from their parents, you've stridden through discrimination which you don't deserve, and you conquered a life or death situation at the age of 7. That is why I want to help you, I wish for the best future that you deserve. I can't say the same for everyone else, but I promise that us at Atlas will do everything in our power to protect you."

So... he is basically saying only listen to me, because I'm investing in you, and I want insurance.

Feeling slightly sassy I then ask, "what if your friends don't wish the same thing?"

He smiles and simply says, "they do, don't worry."

Before I can respond he stands up brushing himself off in the process, "I must leave for a meeting, it's been a pleasure to meet you Caerus," he finishes, putting out his left hand for me to shake.

I turn to look at him, scroll still in hand, and reach out with my right hand to shake his hand, "Good to meet you," I respond in like.

He nods in response and walks out, however, just before he exits the room he turns around and says, "and if you ever need help. Don't hesitate to call me."

* * *

So I'm out the hospital and back at the orphanage.

Word has apparently gotten around at the orphanage at what had happened in the forest causing a lot of kids to glance at me as I walk by, obviously talking about something.

And they aren't exactly saying mean things, I can still hear part of what they are saying with my enhanced hearing, and it's not exactly butterflies and rainbows.

But on a different note, while I was still in the hospital I tried recreating the blue electricity I used to kill the beowolf, and the results… well, they were pathetic at best.

The best I was able to get was a thin line that traveled between my index and middle finger for a brief second. In fact, it was so small I didn't realize it was there until I was able to recreate it a second later. Only to realize I'm not completely immune to my own semblance, which sent shivers down my arm.

Although I found out later on that, Ironwood had apparently given me more than just his contact information on the scroll.

While I was looking through the scroll to see what apps it had I found a book app, so out of curiosity, I clicked it.

Three books were already installed. "The Practical Guide For Aura and Semblances For Huntsmen and Huntresses in Training". The beginner, intermediate, and advanced versions all already downloaded.

My first thought? The books need a shorter name. Second thought? To see what the books have inside.

And it has been moderately useful. Of course, I'm still on the beginner's edition, and some of the stuff I already know, but at the same time, it has provided some useful insight. Things that have helped me develop my skill with my semblance, and teach me ways how I could possibly improve upon it.

The first couple chapters are basically introduction, and explaining what Semblances and Auras are. Not really all that useful, since I pretty much know it all, although it gave some information that, while not that practical, is good to know. After that is how to awaken it, something I've quite obviously already completed. And beyond that, actual tips on how to use your Aura, and general tips on using your semblance.

Still, I have barely made a dent the first book, and have gotten so far as to have a thin electric line travel between my fingers for a whole second. So I still have a lot of work to do. Although if there's any ant that wants to fight me... beware.

I am interrupted by my reading, however, as a kid walks up to the bed I am lying in.

For a second he doesn't really say anything but stares at me, several alarms going off in my head until I get a better look at him. He was smiling, yes, and obviously wanted to say something, but there was a brief hesitation, confusion perhaps?

"You Caerus?" the kid asks, my ears perking up, my head shortly following suit.

The kid appears to be about 10, tall and well built for his age, light gray hair and green eyes, with a large Cheshire cat grin on his face, however, what gets me the most is the two large antlers on top of his head. Another faunus.

"Yeah," I respond looking at him to see where he is taking this.

"So you were the kid that killed the Grimm!" he exclaims surprising me with how much energy he got all the sudden, "you don't know how cool that was! I thought lightning had killed it, but then I look over and you're standing right there with a smoking Grimm at your feet!"

I guess he was there then, and I can't help but let a smile out at the way he described it. "I guess, it was kinda cool."

"What do you mean kinda cool?" he shouts as if I had insulted his very being, "it was freaking awesome!"

By this point, I had sat up, and apparently, he takes it as an invitation to sit down next to me, not that I'm complaining all that much.

"I'm Jae," he says putting out his hand for me to shake, "nice to meet you Caerus!"

"Nice to meet you," I respond shaking his hand, mostly being kind out of pleasantries and less out of this kid interesting me.

"So…" he continues, "after something like that, you wanna be a huntsman? Because some kids are saying that General Ironwood gave you an invitation to Mountain Academy."

"Kinda," I respond looking down. I think briefly about remaining silent for some incomplete notion of being secretive, but in the end I decide I need the catharsis of talking, "he said that I can join Mountain Academy once I turn 13 if I want to, but I'm not that sure about it."

"How could you turn that down?" he demands, "General Ironwood is like the coolest guy ever! I would kill a man to meet him!"

I look dejectedly down at my hands again, "I'm not that sure, just doesn't feel right becoming a hunter after what I saw."

I then turn to look at him, and ask him, "Why don't you become a huntsman then?"

"Well, I really want to," he scoffs looking out the window, "like. I really do want to. But all these other kids are getting these private tutors and stuff. I hear that Weiss Schnee girl has like 3 different teachers, and I doubt I have much of a chance compared to them."

I nod in acknowledgment. There was a rumor that Weiss had basically everything she needed, causing a lot of kids to be jealous and to despise her. Although at the moment she still is 5, so I doubt she's training yet. Nonetheless, Jae seems to think differently despite the rumors.

"I still got an invitation, so I doubt you couldn't," I respond, shrugging my shoulders.

"But, I mean, you killed a beowolf! And, like, by yourself! I'd die instantly if I were to try!" Jae remarks.

I shake my head, "to be fair, if I were to face a beowolf again I'd probably die."

"Eh," he mutters, "but still, you've done more than most people do in their entire life."

"I don't really see how killing a single beowolf does that much to change things," I respond.

"I saw what happened," he retaliates, "you killed the beowolf that was killing Slate. You put yourself in the way to save him, that's something I respect."

"It was more a bad luck type of situation, I didn't really distract the beowolf as much as it just spotted me," I counter.

He shakes his head adamantly, "It's not a matter of whether or not you tried, it's a matter of if you did it or not."

Our philosophical conversation is interrupted by one of the women working at the orphanage yelling, "Lunch time!" while ringing a too loud bell.

I go to put down my scroll as Jae walks up to the doorway, "See you there!" he shouts as he practically runs down the hallway towards the dining room.

I watch as he runs off wondering who I just met.

* * *

 **A Couple Months Later**

My friendship with Jae has really started to kick off.

At first, I honestly thought he'd get bored of me and leave me alone, as per the usual, but surprising enough he kept around and we started talking more and more.

While he was definitely more social than me, he still did suffer from being a faunus, and henceforth our relationship started working more and more.

He quickly started to become my only friend in the orphanage, something that feels surprisingly nice, yet foreign at the same time. While I did have some previous friends in the orphanage, we generally went our own ways. At the same time, it was definitely the catharsis I needed that I wasn't quite aware of, his outward and friendly personality made the orphanage just that might brighter.

I'm still lost at how our relationship has been working out so well, he's the silly talkative and fun guy to hang out around, I'm the reluctant, boring, and lonely kid who sits in the corner of the room, yet despite what you'd think our relationship has worked out. I'm not exactly complaining about this, it's always good to have friends, despite how hyperactive they may be.

Although there are certain things we quite obviously don't like about each other, for example, he doesn't like how quiet I am, and I don't like how mischevious he is.

Like right now.

"I don't see why we have to do this," I shake my head as he leans over the railing on top of the orphanage and onto the pavement below.

"Come on, don't tell me you don't wanna get back at Gray!" he says expectantly.

Gray, the self-assured ruler of the orphanage, perse. One of the less... agreeable kids, the kid who has known to leave practically every night to do who knows what. Probably drugs in some back alley. Generally, I've made a habit of staying out of his way, as he has a history of disliking faunus kids, and since I'm no White Knight, my job is just to stay away from him, for my own safety. Long story short, no one likes him, not even the people who own the orphanage.

"I honestly don't really care," I repeat rubbing the side of my head.

"Come on! Do it for the children!" he convinces.

"We are children!" I return.

"Then do it for the younger children!" he repeats this time raising his arm high into the air in some sort of heroic gesture.

"We're going to throw water balloons, full of water, at Gray, right in the middle of winter. Not only is that just plain mean, but we're going to get in trouble," I exasperate.

"Psch," he says brushing it to the side, "trouble, schmouble. When did that ever stop me!"

"You're not listening…"

"Sh, sh, sh, sh, sh," he says pushing his index finger onto my lips causing me to lean back awkwardly, "he's coming."

Despite my common sense protesting me not to do so I quiet down and crawl up next to him, my ears perking up to find any sound since I don't spot him right away.

"He's over there," Jae points below us as he walks on the sidewalk below the building.

Jae then proceeds to turn around and reach back and grab a water balloon twice the size of my head out from nowhere.

"Wait, wait, wait," I whisper, "I thought we were going to do smaller water balloons. Not this giant."

"Eh," he whispers back, "that's boring, I like things big," he says resting the water balloon on the railing overlooking the sidewalk. "That's what she said," he says a second later.

"But, really," I continue ignoring his joke, "that could actually hurt him, like really… wait… no… stop… fuck."

Jae pushes the water balloon over the railing before I have a chance to stop him, and for a brief elongated second, it silently flies through the air, like a graceful walrus, before slamming right in front of Gray.

The water balloon explodes violently, sending water everywhere, coloring the pavement a full shade darker. However, a large portion lands right on Gray drenching him with water, as he recoils violently seemingly unsure of how to react to being drenched in water.

Before I have a chance to look at a full result Jae grabs me and pulls me away from the railing right before Gray looks up. Jae yanks me violently back to the orphanage so we can act like we were doing nothing. And faintly in the distance, outside the doorway, we just entered I can hear Gray scream in the background promising to decapitate whoever did that.

"I swear to god," I mutter while being dragged, "one day you're going to get me killed."

* * *

 **Age 8**

So, from then our relationship has only gotten better. It generally follows the pattern of Jae doing something stupid, and me reluctantly following, complaining about everything he does.

Something I've found is that he has the persuasive effect of literally never giving up until you give in. I suppose it would be a bit more endearing if it weren't for the fact of how annoying it is.

One of those numerous times, of course, is him getting me to accept the invitation that James Ironwood gave to me a year ago.

And since then Jae has taken it under his belt to not only increase my skills but to increase his as well so we can both go to Mountain Academy.

Apparently, he used to have parents that cared for him, something quite a bit different than your average kid as most kids never had parents in the first place. And that before they died, they would train Jae in the basics of combat, since we live in the middle of an anti-faunus hotspot, so henceforth with my superior knowledge on Aura and Semblance, and his with physical combat we started teaching each other the lesser known subject.

My skill with my aura has moderately improved to the point in which I can cause some physical harm. I still doubt I could kill somebody unless you count death from 1,000 needles or 1,000 zaps. But still, I have used it to tease Jae with minor zaps, which seems to be the only way I can get what I want.

My physical combat skill, however… could use some improving.

I'm not sure if it's whether I'm just bad or too scared to actually fight that well, but it hasn't been working out all that well. At the same time, Jae's fighting style seems to perfectly counter mine, as mine is a more stand back and stay safe, while his is a 'get in their face and wreck shit' so I tend to have trouble fighting him.

At first, he more taught me techniques, and we didn't fight, since we didn't really have a place in order to do so. But after asking James Ironwood we were able to get one of the gyms in Mountain Academy to use after the school ended, and if there was nothing going on. After that, we were able to go a bit more insane with what we were doing, actually physically fighting and doing other stuff.

Still, my skills haven't improved all that much.

My thought is only proven as Jae sidesteps my weak punch, dodges to the side and doesn't hesitate to push me onto the ground, and grab one of my legs and twist it to the position in which I can't move it without risking breaking it.

After a second of emphasis of putting me in that position, he lets go and I awkwardly lift myself up off the ground, my leg feeling a bit numb from that position.

"You gotta learn to move," he says staring at me disapprovingly, "you keep standing there like you just were caught stalking a person."

"Yeah," I mutter scratching behind one of my wolf ears, trying to get a stray itch.

"Come on," he exasperates, lightly punching me in one of my shoulders, "you're practically stuck in your own little box of sadness and brooding. You gotta learn to expand, do new things."

"Well, sure," I respond half-heartedly, "But, I think that's enough for today, I need to take a shower."

"And there's the excuses," he mutters with despairingly, "well, I ain't gonna change your mind, so let's go."

I nod in agreement and go to grab the water bottle on a nearby bench while he does the same, taking a small drink in the process.

"Oh, one thing before we leave," Jae says making me turn to him mid drink.

It doesn't take long to notice that he's hiding something behind his back.

"What?" I ask already curious.

He then pulls out his hand from behind his back, "happy birthday!" he shouts showing me what he's hiding.

It's a ring, a copper ring.

But still, "It's not my birthday."

"Wait! What?" He asks incredulously, "it isn't?"

"No," I respond feeling awkward already, "it's not for two months."

"Ah, uh, wait… oh…" he stammers rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, "well! Scratch that!"

He clears his throat, "Caerus, I've only known you for a year, but that year has been the best time of my life!" he pledges, getting down on one knee, "every time I see you my heart beats out of my chest, and whenever I don't my heart aches in longing. So Caerus, the love of my life, sweetie, will you marry me?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose as I look towards the ground, my ears drooping down, "I swear to god, I'm going to kill you."

"You never answered my question," he says with his iconic Cheshire cat grin.

For several seconds I just pace in place trying to decide what I want to do, "Fine..." I drawl, "I do."

"Ayyyy!" he shouts, arms raised in the air in victory, "I now pronounce thee, husband and husband!"

"Caerus, dearest husband of mine," he drawls on, "may I have the honor of adorning this beautiful ring on thy hand?"

I hold out my left hand, not saying anything, while I continually pinch the bridge of my nose while looking away, as he reaches over to put the ring on my left ring finger humming the classic wedding music all the way.

Once he finishes adorning the ring I finally look up at him, "so tell me why you just proposed to me."

He bites his lower lip, "well, I thought today was your birthday, and ignoring the fact that I got it wrong, which we will never speak of again unless you want to die. I decided to get you a gift."

"A copper ring," I ask in a sarcastic way.

"Not any copper ring, _the_ copper ring," he pronounces as if he has just found something life changing.

"Because that changes everything," I mutter again.

"Okay, but really now," he continues, more seriously, "I was thinking, you've been helping me train a lot. I mean you helped me awaken my aura, which is kinda a big thing. So I thought since you helped me with my aura, I'll help you with yours."

"So… a copper ring?" I question.

"I'm getting there," he says waving a hand at me, "so, I know a guy from before my parents died, and he works with dust a lot, so I talked with him and managed to have him infuse lighting dust with the ring."

It takes me a full second to comprehend it, and once that happens I immediately raise the ring to my eye, eyeing it as if it is going to poison me, not out of fear, but out of gratitude. He had gotten me a ring, infused with lightning dust, to try to help me master my semblance faster.

"But…" I stammer trying to get find the words, "dust costs a lot, like a freaking lot. How did you get this?"

"Haha," he laughs, "he owed me a favor, so I just used my personal charm and got this. I mean, it's not that much dust, but I thought it'd help."

"Still," I continue muttering, "it's… just why?"

"Well," he responds, "we faunus gotta stick together."

I stammer for another second, "Well, screw you. You're forcing me to top this now like that's really nice of you. I know how hard dust is to get, and how it is even harder to infuse."

Glancing at it for a second I grin slightly, "Although... it is kinda big," I tease.

"It's kinda big," he says mocking me, "of course it's kinda big, you're gonna grow into it!"

"Fine, fine," I say waving a hand, "thanks. I guess."

"Thanks?" he says jokingly, "that's it, just thanks. I expect full prostration! I demand to be a king dammit!"

In response, I use my newly acquired ring to zap him.

* * *

 **First off, wow I got a lot better response than I hoped. I was imagining maybe one or two followers, with a review saying I'm a scrub and that I should go kill myself. (Okay maybe not that bad), but still, I got a lot more followers and favorites than I imagined, with some extremely helpful reviews. So thanks to DownSmashJon and Emiliano733 for the reviews.**

 **Anyways, this chapter came out like really fast. I'm even surprised how fast it came out. However, I can't promise that every chapter will come out this fast. I'm sorry about that, but that is how it works.**

 **Also, dialogue and humor. Not my strong suite, so I tried my best getting it right, but there's only so much I can do. So I'd love if any of y'all would have any pointers.**

 **A lot of this chapter is an info dump, not much I can do to rectify that, as I feel each scene has its own niche use, and I'm not good enough at finding a good replacement scene, although I'll try to make next chapter more entertaining.**

 **Anyways, follow, favorite, and review. Although mostly just review.**

 **Until next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Jae's semblance is at the bottom.**

* * *

 **Age 9**

"Ready?" Jae asks, his muscles tensing up in preparation.

I nod as I get in my classic fighting position, right hand outwards ready to intercept any incoming hits, with left hand kept inwards in case the need to strike or use my semblance comes up.

"Okay, Jae versus Caerus, round 1, start!" he shouts unnecessarily, in a deep announcer like voice.

As soon as he finishes shouting he rushes forwards immediately charging towards my left side, which he knows to be my weaker side.

In response as he nears I turn my body and hold my arm out in defense, taking steps back.

Once he closes the distance he goes for a strong roundhouse punch right towards my chest, which I neatly sidestep, having partially expected it.

At his side I go for a quick jab to his belly with my left hand, seeing a partial opening. He then angles himself, and he uses his free hand to block it, continuing his momentum, twisting into a kick towards my head.

I awkwardly bend my body in order to dodge the kick, using my free hand try to hit him, less for damage, and more to push him away.

It partially works as I get one of his exposed legs, destabilizing him for a second, which I use to gain some distance, pushing him as far back as I can as I ready my left hand behind my back as I charge up my semblance.

"Come on," he groanes smiling, "You're a wuss."

Both of us take the time to take several deep breaths to stabilize ourselves while sweat starts to dribble down our foreheads, as I use my hand to wipe a stray piece of hair away.

He ends the pseudo impasse by charging at me seeing my hand out of position.

Just as he reaches he I lower myself down and punch out with my left hand, expunging the built up electricity that was stored in my hand.

It comes out as a small blue lighting bolt that flies out from my hand and towards Jae, Apparently, he expected it as he ducks down right before I release the electricity swiftly dodging under it.

However, lighting being the bitch it is, partially grabs onto him due to his proximity, some of the built up energy flowing into him, which most of his aura absorbs, but still he stumbles slightly, but nonetheless continues his charge.

But while I prepare to follow up with another hit Jae is already up at me, kicking my legs out from under me with a clean sweep, continuing his spin into kicking me in the chest shortly after, knocking some of the air out of my chest and sending me flying backward.

I quickly realign myself mid-flight, knowing that he'll capitalize on this, twisting myself around, and using my hands to angle myself so I land on one knee.

Looking up I see that he is right in front of me, doing another roundhouse punch straight towards my face.

Having just recovered from my tumble, I push towards him using my right hand to shield myself from the punch, while using my left hand for a fully lightning enhanced punch.

It has some of the desired effects as it sends him a few feet backward, static rolling off his chest, while I only have to deal with a bruised chest, from the kick, and a sore arm, from defending the punch.

That victory becomes pyrrhic when I see him change stances, going from his classic hand-to-hand combat style to a more recent one which utilizes his semblance, going from a closed fist to an open palm.

"You've just awoken the beast," he teases, as I recoil from my last engagement.

"That wasn't even good," I merely respond, groaning both out of exhaustion and Jae's attempt at a one-liner.

He suddenly dashes towards me, his semblance leaving light red marks on the ground which quickly disappear shortly afterward in a violent yet small flash of light.

He closes the distance in record time, doing a spin enhanced slash with his palm, a red glowing line following his hand, something that would be dazzling if I were not to be in a fight.

I dash backward, narrowly avoiding the slash, and even more narrowly avoiding the line which detonates slowly afterward.

Before I can even respond he sends out a jab, which physically lands in front of me by about a foot, but sends out a red spear which hits me right in the belly, exploding right when it hits me, sending me tumbling backward.

I flip mid-air, landing on the balls of my feet, just in time to see him charge me again, showing no signs of wear.

In response I hold my hand out, palm facing out, feeling my semblance gather at in bulk, making my hand start to go numb in a relaxing way. Either not seeing my charging up lighting, or choosing to ignore it he continues his charge towards me as I focus on collecting more and more energy into my palm.

Right as he is about to reach me I release it in a single burst, lightning surging out of the palm of my hand.

Quite unlike the other lightning move I used, this one is not directed, it is designed to hit the nearest outlet, which sometimes is what I want, other times is not. This case, I got lucky as it targets Jae in the chest.

This time, being unable to dodge, he continued charging straight through the attack, his red aura taking up a large bulk, while he uses his semblance, to absorb the rest.

Having not expected him to just charge right through, I'm completely unprepared to deal with a semblance enhanced punch that sends me flying backward with explosive force. Hitting the wall, and lodging myself in it.

I relax there for a good two seconds, groaning the entire time, knowing well by now that the fight is over.

After peeling myself off the wall, breathing heavily the entire time, I check my scroll to continue what I already knew happened.

"Okay," I mutter taking huge breaths resting my hands on my knees, "I'm almost out, fight over."

"And Jae wins again!" he announces, "What's that? 12 for me, and 3 for you?"

"Well, yes, you do have the significant age advantage, you don't need to rub it in," I reply, trying to stabilize my breathing, and shake away the feeling of wear, as sweat beads down my body, trying to cool myself off.

"You know what?" he replies walking up to me, seemingly unfazed by our most recent fight "you're saying that you are jealous of me."

I stare up at him from my resting position, "No I'm not," I respond blandly. Too exhausted to say some quirky reply.

"See!" he continues ignoring what I just said, "I knew you are jealous of me. Don't worry, one day you'll be as awesome as me."

I laugh a bit, despite my lack of breath, and prepare to say some joking retort, but realizing I have nothing I just mutter, "Like I'd ever want that to happen."

"I can't hear you over your jealousy," he mocks, "admit it. You just wanna be like me, don't you? You wanna have my looks, my semblance, my _voice_."

"No, no, and maybe," I reply, bored.

"Well, that's a partial victory," he cheers, "I know you wanna figuratively strap my voice down on a table, run your tongue along its collarbone, and…"

"Okay! thank you, that's enough," I stop, waving a hand at him.

I pull out my scroll having straightened myself up, beads of sweat still trailing down my face. I swipe my hand along the fighting app I had downloaded, going to a timeline of the fight.

"So, as expected, most of your aura damage came from those three lighting hits I did, the first and third doing the most damage," I read as he looks over my shoulder, "most of my damage came from over time, although once you used your semblance those two hits had almost 150% the damage output."

I swipe right one last time to look at another tab, "I had about 7% aura remaining, while you had about 23%."

He then pauses rubbing his chin, "So, basically I'm just better than you at everything," he jokes.

"No… my semblance generally does more damage," I continue still looking at the statistics on the scroll, not paying attention to what he said, "and unlike…" I pause and look up at him, "That was a joke, wasn't it?"

"You need to pay more attention," he teases, "one day you'll walk right past the love of your life, and not even notice she existed."

I bite my lip while I stare back at him, walking over to the bench where we keep our stuff, heading straight for the water bottles, "Good thing I'm not planning for a relationship then."

He visibly recoils and gasps at the same time, "How dare you!" he accuses, faking anger, "any respectful huntsman always has some beautiful girl as his companion!"

I merely shrug my shoulders, "I guess I'm an exception then."

"I swear to Oum," Jae groans, "you're going to be the weirdest huntsman ever. Next thing you tell me you're going to decide that's it better to fight naked while covered in peanut butter."

I raise my eyebrow, turning all the way around to look at him, "The hell?"

"Whatever," he replies, brushing off my question, leaning on the wall with one arm, while I gulp down water, "So, what's it gonna be? Wanna go again? Or are you just gonna drink water all day?"

* * *

 **Age 10**

My eyes open to a red sky, with Remnant's broken moon dangling above, larger than ever, covering up most of the sky.

Is this a dream?

My mind wakes up immediately from its sleep and I scramble myself up and look around trying to figure out where the hell I am.

I'm on some sort of cliff face, on a little slab of rock that juts out, giving me a fair bit of space to walk around. However, each rock has its own features, some are colored a dull gray, others a dark brown, some even a shade of blue or green, that seems to reflect the dark red light, giving the impression that the mountain is almost emitting light.

I glance down at my hands checking if I have 5 fingers on each hand, remembering that checking your fingers is a good way to check if its a dream. And sure enough I have 10 fingers, all sitting there.

Not only that, it just feels too real to be a dream. I can feel the chilly air reach down into my lungs, I can feel the harsh gravel underneath my feet, I can feel the dry air bite at my skin.

My breath hitches at that realization, as a wave of fear and anxiety, washes over me like a cool breeze on a winter's night.

If this is real, then how did I get here? Why am I here? What's going on around me?

Step by step, I carefully crawl my way over towards the edge of the outcropping glancing over the edge to see what is below.

And off into the horizon stretches a green yet dying forest, vibrant yet sickly due to the red omnipresent hue that lingers above like a thick smoke, reminding me of the Forever Falls Forest I've heard so much about.

In some places are rivers, neatly slicing through the earth, in some places there are hills, jutting out of the ground, and there are trees stretch higher than others, reaching towards the sky, and if I pay attention I can even see some critters make their way around, and can hear the rustle of the leaves, as gusts of wind sneak there way through the forest.

Where am I? There is literally no sense of direction to where I am, there isn't even the sun, just Remnant's moon. Does it mean that it is night time?

It's only a bit brighter than a regular night, but at the same time, that little bit feels infinitely larger than it should be, giving both the ominous feel of darkness and the oppressive feeling of a thick fog.

And how did I even get here, this seems too real to be a dream, things seem to be too aligned, all the checks for lucid dreaming I know of, show that this is reality, then why...

Something just shook.

Something deep within the mountain.

Oh, fuck me. If I wasn't breathing hard before I'm now hyperventilating, as I shake my head furiously around trying to find where it came from, my wolf ears dashing around, straightening out as they try to pick out any stray sound.

I get on my knees, trying to get closer to the ground, thinking it'll protect me afraid that the shaking will send me flying off the little outcrop I call home and to my immediate death.

If I jump off, I'll most likely die, if I stay here, I'll most likely die. If I close my eyes and wish to be back home. Nothing happens.

Okay, what else could it be? Not every ominous thing is actually something out to kill you, could it be a volcano? No, doesn't make sense. Earthquake? Probably still be going on, what else? uhhh…

It just happened again.

In fact this time it was a lot stronger, and I could've sworn I heard some roaring.

In fact, it was so strong, that it knocked me off balance, causing me to get a large gash in my hand as if things weren't bad already.

Okay, okay. I bring it up to my eyes to examine it.

I got some dirt on it, I'll have to clean that off, doesn't look to be too deep, so I should just be fine. Although there is no water source nearby, so I'll just have to use my shirt to clean it off.

Ignoring the jolts of pain that run through my arm, I carefully grab a bit of my shirt and clean it off, biting my tongue the entire time.

Back to the task at hand, something is going on, and if I stay here I'll probably die, I have to find some way down, I could just climb down, but I doubt that'll…

Something just cracked from above.

I scramble near the edge, hoping to get as far away as possible as I turn around to see what just happened.

And the sight, well it's terrifying.

From the top of the mountain as shadowy essence slips its way out. It starts out a short little trickle and grows, pushing more and more of the rocks away, the trickle quickly turning into a stream, which turns into a river. As more and more pores out it slowly coagulate on top, a shifting mass writhing and spinning as a form starts to emerge out of the mess. And bit by bit it continues edges appearing, and colors starting to differentiate until the shadow no longer is a shadow and looks to be solid. And what finally emerges sends shivers down my spine, as in front of me, and a top the mountain is a Grimm dragon.

Okay, okay, okay, okay. It hasn't seen me yet. I just need to keep it that way.

I clasp my hand over my mouth, trying to stifle the sound of me breathing while my heartbeat thunders within my ears, at a constant, yet terrifying rhythm, making me think that the dragon will hear my own heartbeat.

As if to check one last time to see if there's anything that could save me I look over the edge of the cliff, only to see the forest below me.

However, I turn back realizing that the crashing of the dragon has stopped, only to see that it is staring right at me.

While it was previously moving, now it just sits there watching me with both calculating and hateful eyes, transfixing me in place, both out of fear and slight awe, as I sit here, hoping that I won't die another premature now, despite how far away it is, it still feels as if it is right here.

And now, despite how far away it is, as far away as the peak is from where I am, it still feels as if it is right here, it feels like the dragon is only mere centimeters away.

Gaining control of my body once again I scramble even further back, only stopping when my arm flies off the cliff, almost pulling me with it.

Apparently with me breaking out of my stupor, so does the dragon, as it raises up its massive head to the sky, and lets out an ear-piercing roar that seems to shake the ground with it.

I attempt to cover my ears and close my eyes. Something that would be easier if I only had one pair of ears.

But nonetheless, I continue trying, as I attempt to shield out the sound, trying to force it to fade into the darkness, trying to focus on the sound of my breathing and my heartbeat, both acting as beacons of stability.

 ** _Boom_**

A sound reminiscent of thunder reverberates around me. Both scaring the hell out of me and making my ears ring.

I sit up immediately, only to have my face slam into something right above me.

Mother of fu...

...

Wait… wait...

Wait, I'm back in the orphanage.

I blink a couple of times as I try to focus my eyes on a nearby clock. The darkness slowly receding as my faunus eyes quickly adapt to the near pitch black darkness.

1:37 A.M.

I find myself still breathing heavily, adrenaline still sending jolts through my body, along with sweat that starts to coagulate on my skin.

Could that have just been a dream?

My answer comes when I wince, and raise my hand to my face, to see the same gash, right in the middle of my hand, blood still oozing out.

* * *

I grab the notebook from under my mattress, enter the 4 digit combination on the lock, look around to make sure that no one else is here, pull out a pencil in the notebook, and start writing.

 _June/14/20XX_

 _I had a dream last night._

 _Something happened last night. I was transported to some mountain that wasn't in Atlas. Thy sky was red, and the moon was closer than ever. It was night time, yet it was too bright to really be night time. Right off the bat, something felt off like the area was whispering almost._

 _My best guess is that it is either Vale or Mistral, as the forest reminded me most closely of those kingdoms._

…

And I write, and write, and write. I write until my hand aches, and to the point in which adrenaline is coursing through me yet again, and I keep on writing even beyond that. I write and write until I finish with the part where I wake up in my bed in the middle of the night, feeling the same relief I felt back then.

With a large sigh, I close the notebook, randomize the combination, and slide it back to under my mattress.

Another entry to my 'book'o'weird ass knowledge'. Basically where I keep my memories of RWBY, my past life, and everything else because as much as I would like to say that I can remember everything with crystal clear memory, some things are slowly fading away.

I could've used my scroll, but paranoia told me that someone could hack into it, so I saved up money until I could buy the most protected notebook I could find. Having tested it, I wouldn't be surprised if the damn thing could survive a nuclear bomb.

I go to rest my face in my hands, trying to recollect myself after going over what happened last night, only to wince as I irritate the wound on my hand.

I hold it out in front of me as I look at it. I had told the nurse at the orphanage that I cut it on a stray nail, which was apparently enough for her to disinfect it and put a bandaid on it, and give me a lollipop for being a 'good boy'.

I feel like she said that because I'm a wolf faunus.

My theory was only proven when she audibly cooed when my ears flattened on my head due to me being annoyed.

I take a deep breath, rubbing my eyes with my noninjured hand. Why does life have to be so difficult?

Jae interrupts my thinking, by literally skipping into the bedroom, a piece of manilla paper in his hand, and a large Cheshire cat grin on his face.

He stares right at me, and with a sing-song voice says, "Guess who just got accepted into Mountain Academy!"

* * *

 **Age 11**

"I'm just telling you," Jae says adamantly, "give me 5 more minutes with her, and I would have her all over me."

I reply bored, picking at my nails absentmindedly, "She told you 7 times to leave her alone, she's 3 years older than you, she was on the verge of calling the police, and she was there waiting for her own boyfriend."

"She was playing hard to get," he counters, waving his hand in the air to show how much he thinks of my assumption.

I turn to look him straight in the eye as we continue to walk down the street, "You don't know when to stop," I tease, "We go out for a walk and within half an hour someone's already threatening to call the police on you."

"What can I say? I have that natural jazz with the girls," he responds.

I reply in a lazy fashion, "yet all you've managed to score is threats of restraining orders."

"Hey!" he shouts jokingly, as I roll my eyes waiting for what he's going to say, "listen here, nerd! My tactics are grade A! You'd do yourself a favor if you start using them also!"

"No thanks, I think I'm better sticking to my own, non-invasive, tactics," I reply.

"Nah, you gotta try mine sometimes, they…"

"Hey mutt!" a loud voice yells from behind us, in a particularly mocking fashion.

And just like that, the mood is gone.

It takes me a good second to realize what is going on. I take a deep sigh and turn around to see who just shouted. I'm greeted by the sight of three young teenage boys, all of varying age, looking to range from 15 to 11, and all standing in a different variant of a pose they think looks cool, two of them with an expression that bleeds arrogance.

Their look like your average rich Atlas kid, relatively nice clothes, some fancy scroll tucked into their pocket, an excess of Lien chits bulging out of their clothes, combed hair with gel in it, and a large strut in their step with a gaze that says 'You are beneath me'.

"Did your mom get fucked by a dog?" the closest one asks, the one to his left bursting into laughter, while the one to the right just chuckles silently, frowning nonetheless

I can already see Jae tensing up, his fists clenching, but I grip his arm and pull him away mumbling, "Don't," knowing all too well what he was planning to do.

He violently shakes his arm from my grip but nonetheless complies. As I sigh in relief, glad that he'll listen to me for once.

"Oh look! He's scared!" a separate voice jeers, "look at him running away, with his tail between his legs."

I take another deep breath, closing my eyes for a second trying to tune him out. Using my hand to try to rub out an impending headache I know is coming.

"Look at them," the same previous voice jeers, "they must be a couple! Hah, makes sense, no one else would want to fuck them."

I glance at Jae who is quickly turning into a violent shade of red. "Let it go," I mutter trying to calm him down, "they're not worth your time."

Still, my encouraging isn't doing much to help. Jae is still balling his hands tight enough to the point in which his skin is turning white, and it doesn't help that people are turning and looking at what's going on, with various emotions going from pity to amusement.

Despite my best attempts at ignoring them, I'm still hunching over even more so, looking at the ground, and putting my hands in my pocket, all in an attempt to make myself as small as possible.

"Awww, you're just gonna walk away," the first voice returns, "not even going to try and fight?"

The second voice continues, "It makes sense, their owner must have told them that they can't fight anymore, after all, what else do animals do?"

At this point, I made the mistake of turning back and glaring at them as they continue following us. The first two seemed to find it hilarious, while, yet surprisingly the third one just looked embarrassed.

But still, the first one continues mockingly, "Awwww, look at him. He's upset, look at his cute little puppy dog face!"

A second later, he resumes the tirade, "If it were up to me, all those faunus would be chained up, and locked in prisons, like the filthy animals they are."

Having forgotten about Jae due to the insults, it surprises me when I hear him mutter, "Okay, that's it."

And without breaking stride he whips around, takes two large steps, and does an impressive roundhouse punch, hitting the leading kid straight in the face, knocking him back a couple steps before he collapses on the ground, all in the span of a second.

For a second it seems like everything froze.

The second one, once he gets his bearings returns a weak punch towards Jae. Jae, of course, having quite a bit of sparring experience, easily parries the blow to the side, kicks the kids leg out from under him, forcing him down on his knees. Jae then proceeds to knee him right in the nose, the cracking of his nose audible from where I am standing, causing me to instinctively wince.

Jae whips around to the third kid who hasn't said a word, who just backs away, both arms raised in the air in a submissive position. Jae responds by snorting, at their lack of combat skills, and walking back up to me, acting as if nothing had happened, while I just stand there unsure about how I should feel towards what just happened.

As soon as he closes the gap towards me, he mutters, "We're leaving now," beckoning me to follow him with a wave of his hand, which I follow with an awkward shrug.

Before we leave, I glance one last time at the kids who insulted us, the two that got injured starting to recover and stand up, sending glares our way while holding their injured body parts, while the three just mouths, 'I'm so sorry' my way.

Having concluded his assault, the mood has changed slightly, having gone from anger to awkward silence. Jae angrily keeping his hands in his pants pockets, and glaring down at the pavement, while I follow right beside him, glancing around at everything that moves.

"How the fuck can you just let them say that," I can hear Jae mutter under his breath.

I sigh and reply shortly after, "I've gotten used to it. My tactic is just to ignore them until they get bored and leave."

He shakes his head, "It's not right," he says, "you shouldn't be treated that way."

I raise an eyebrow at the part of how I shouldn't be treated that way, "What about you, they were insulting you as well."

"Well yeah, I'm older, I can take it," he replies softer, "you're still 11, you shouldn't have to deal with it."

I shake my head, "While it's nice that you care, but I can handle myself. I don't need you to protect me."

"No... it's just that…" he stutters in one of the few moments I've seen him unsure of what to say, "I just want to do something good. I want to feel like I am helping people. I can't just let them stand there and say all those things to you, it just doesn't feel right."

"Still," I respond, "it's not like I haven't dealt with this before. I can take insults, I've taken them before."

"No," he adamantly replies, "it's still not good. I mean sure, they could pick on me, but instead, they pick on you."

"Well, yeah," I counter, "It makes sense, go for the weaker one, and since I'm younger it makes me the prime target, and plus you look like the one that will kick their shit in, so if they're going to go for anyone, it is going to be me."

"Just… no… it's just…ah, fuck," he continues to stutter rubbing his face with his hands. He lowers his hands shortly after and takes a deep breath, "I used to have a younger brother."

"Oh?" I respond reflexively, unsure what to think about this new info, "why are you telling me this?"

He looks down at the ground as we continue walking, "I really loved him. I didn't know it back then, but I really did. He was always so innocent, and so talkative, and well, he was really cute. He was the kind of kid that seemed like he would never grow up, I still remember how he loved the rain, and every time it would rain he would go outside and run around until my mom yelled at him to stop, yet he would do it again next time," he takes a deep breath, "and then he died."

I can hear him take a deep breath, swallowing a sob, "I didn't know how much I loved him until he was gone. I can't help but feel like it was my fault that he died, and I just wanted to tell him that I loved him one more time. I didn't do know to do after that, I went to the orphanage, but it never felt the same, like I was missing a part of me," he then pauses, looking at me, "And then I met you, you were exactly his age, and you looked so much like him. Of course, you don't act like him, but you reminded me so much of him that it hurt."

At this point I'm listening attentively, frowning, not out of annoyance, but out of what he just said. Still, I just remain silent while he continues, "I was never actually there that night you were attacked. I just used it as an excuse to talk to you. I just couldn't help but feel that you were like him in some way."

He turns to look at me now, his eyes red, "So if you wanna know why, that's why. Every time I see you, I see my dead brother, and part of my just selfishly likes talking with you, because every time I talk to you, I see so much of him in you, so when those _assholes_ started insulting you, I couldn't stand it, I wouldn't just sit down and let things happen again until it was too late."

I can only blink in response. This is something I would expect to hear coming out of a young adult, not a 14-year-old. What the hell did he experience? Don't get me wrong, part of me feels warm since I apparently mean so much to him, but at the same time, it reminds me painfully well of when I was first reincarnated, and how I dealt with losing my family and friends.

"Jae…" I mutter unsure what to say.

"No," he interrupts, "I know what you're going to say. That you hate me, that I'm selfish for using you to for my gain. That you never want to see me again."

I can merely sigh at his response. This must have been hard for him. "Of course not… Jae, it means a lot that you told me that. I don't see how I could think of you as selfish, hell you just punched two kids in my defense."

As I'm thinking of what to say next, I think of saying something that is only partially true to make him feel better, and before I have time to debate the semantics of saying something partially true to make him feel better, I'm already saying it.

"Jae, unlike you I've never had a family. My first memories were in the orphanage, always alone. I always wanted to live a normal life, with a normal family, but that was something I never got. Part of me just wishes I would have a normal life, but things never seemed to go my way."

I take a deep breath, some hidden emotions starting to resurface causing my eyes to tear up a bit, "As you know, being that one faunus kid made life difficult, and despite how hard I tried, something seemed to go wrong. Things started to hit the lowest point when I awoke my semblance. I won't lie when I say that I had debated suicide. And then you came along, acting in your happy and stupid way, and you brought back stability into my life. In a way, you were the family I never had."

Of course, that's partially true. While I would've preferred a family instead of living in the orphanage, I did have experience with a family back in my previous life. I had siblings which I loved. I was happy with the siblings in my previous life, and as much as I can say it, he'll never fit in that role of a sibling, and part of me feels evil for lying to him like that.

I hear him sob silently, but beyond that he doesn't really talk, leaving me unsure what to say. However, as we near a t-junction, he nudges me to the right muttering, "Here, let's go back home."

I only nod in response as I look at the ground in thought about what just happened. But one thing rings clear, after what I told him, the lie that I told him, I feel like a horrible person. He was in a time of weakness, and I lied to him to make him feel better.

And in my downtrodden, and depressed mind one thing sticks out, something that repeats over and over and over in my mind.

I'm a horrible person.

* * *

 **This chapter turned out a bit more emotional than I expected, but I actually like this chapter quite a bit.**

 **And for semblances. I tried working a way to explain Jae's semblance in this chapter, but it just turned out awkward and didn't really fit in, so I'm gonna go the lazy man's route and just put it down here.**

 **Jae's Semblance: In quite a similar fashion to Adam Taurus' or Yang's, any damage he takes to his aura he partially converts into a storage for his semblance. He can than expunging it in two ways, either physically increasing the strength in which he strikes/moves, which leaves small red lines in its wake which detonate slowly afterward, or he can use it to buff his aura.**

 **This chapter feels kinda meh. Each section feels important, and I like how each one worked out, but the execution just feels kinda meh. So if it appears that way, I'm sorry about that. My most eh feeling comes from the fighting scene at the beginning, I felt as if I was too specific in it. Writing too much detail.**

 **And pairings! I'm quite undecided about pairings at the moment. I can first off say, not everyone will have a pairing, the only one I'm certain about right now is Jaune/Pyrrha, as that one just seems like a no-brainer, and I generally find it kinda cute, and while I'm probably going to have Caerus love/like some character, how deep the relationship goes might change. AND… I most likely won't having pairings within the RWBY team, meaning no RubyxWeiss, no RubyxBlake, none of that kinda stuff.**

 **Anyways, thanks to DownSmashJon, Emiliano733, Bomberguy789, Shamwoohoo52, and Raikaguken for the reviews/tips/questions.**

 **A lot of thanks, however, to DownSmashJon for the tips and stuff, I've been trying to improve my writing skills, but I'm slow to adapt, so... meh. But really, thanks to everyone who spent the time out of their day to read my story. It does mean a lot.**

 **And that's the end of a surprisingly long AN.**

 **Follow, favorite, review, but mostly just review!**

 **Till next time!**

* * *

 **ALSO! IMPORTANT THING! (Just because this AN wasn't long enough). Well, not that important, but why not. So for every character I have in mind, including the ones you don't know exist, I have weapons and semblances for. That's Jae included. However, Caerus is the one character I've had a slight difficulty for. I DO, however, have ideas, and I know how his will be weapon will evolve in the future, as he evolves also, but still a lot of the weapon ideas I have at the moment don't feel that fitting, so, both out of laziness, and the fact that you guys most likely are more creative than me, I'll ask you for ideas! Of course, this goes without saying, but I do have some guidelines if you are up to the task.**

 **First off, Caerus will be channeling his semblance through his left hand, meaning that the weapon will either have to be able to be wielded with a single hand or able to channel Caerus' semblance. Although I would much prefer a weapon that is able to be wielded one-handed.**

 **Second. Caerus isn't that strong, that means he won't be able to wield hefty weapons, and his fighting style will evolve a lot more onto a hit and run kind of idea, that emphasizes range more than anything else, this means that he'll be more partial towards ranged weapons than melee weapons.**

 **Third, this isn't as much as a guideline as just something I wanna say, this is in Atlas, which is supposedly the most advanced of all the kingdoms. While I won't exactly be accepting lightsabers, feel free to have some technological part to it, hell even Neptune has a railgun for a weapon (At least I think so).**

 **Fourth. KISS principle. Keep It Simple Stupid. I don't want some 7 form mechanical sword that also acts as a sex toy. It can be some obscure kind of weapon I've never heard of before, but I want it to be simple.**

 **And beyond that, that's about it. If you see this after I've posted some other chapters, I'll just say this is open until I introduce Caerus' weapon, which will most likely be about 1 or 2 chapters from this one.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Weapon submissions are still up, if you do not know what I'm talking about, go to the end of the previous chapter. They will probably be up for another two chapters, including this one.**

* * *

 **Age 11**

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!" Jae practically shouts as he practically runs across the field outside the orphanage and up to me, "Guess what I got?"

I stare up from the book I am reading, and look at him. He's wearing his classic clothing of a gray T-shirt with some logo of a popular clothing brand, and long dark brown cargo shorts. The dusk sun casts an orange hue onto his clothes, almost giving off the impression that he's on fire. The wooden bench I am sitting on groans slightly as I shift my weight to rest the book on my side, as I stand up to greet him.

I take a second to look at him, "Herpes?" I question as innocently as possible, managing to keep a neutral expression.

"Almost, but no," he replies not missing a beat as he keeps a straight face, he then pulls his hands out from behind his back, which I now realize were hidden, "look at these!"

At first, it looks like a mess of mechanical parts on his arm, almost like he had dipped his hands into molten steel, and left it out to harden. However, at closer examination, the jumble of metal parts start coming together into a more unified shape, and after a good second of examination, it reveals itself to be none other, than a weapon.

The weapon itself has a distinct red hue and is shaped in what appears to be fingerless gauntlets, that go almost all the way up to the elbow. All in all, it manages to keep both an angular yet smooth manner, with many jutting edges, that don't seem to go out to a point that would be hindering. Many of the more mechanical and less pleasing parts to look at, are either hidden or well blended into the weapon, giving it a sleek yet imposing appearance.

The most notable part, however, is how on the top, near the middle of the forearm, a large metal part juts out, with the hint of two blades jutting out.

"I got my weapon!" he sings in a sing-song voice.

"I thought you had it already," I comment, actually believing what I had said.

"Nah," he replies waving a hand, "they don't trust us with making our own weapon until our second year. I mean, if you give some drugged up super kids some weapons on their first year, they're gonna destroy a strip club or something," he pulls up one hand to his eyes, looking at the weapon appreciatively, "But look at this sweetie. This… is a work of art."

"Well, then," I shrug, "it looks cool," I continue, hiding my excitement to tease him, knowing that my lack of interest is more than enough to bother him.

He pauses and looks at me for a good second, his face morphing into one of partial annoyance, "You could at least act excited."

"That requires energy."

"Well fine," he replies half-defeated, "I'll just act like you care."

I stand up from the wooden bench I was sitting down on, and grab his arm with one hand to examine the weapon. "What's that part?" I ask as I point to the jutting part on the top.

"That," he pauses for emphasis, "is the cool part." He takes a few steps backward, "here, look at this!"

And with a swift, yet jerky flick of the arm, two blades extend outwards from the parts on the top, and over his hand, until it is a good few inches in front of his fist, the sound of the extending of the blades attracting a few heads from the nearby field.

"That's quite cool," I mutter, continuing my facade of disinterest by reciting my lines as monotone as possible.

"But, it gets better," he finishes, "just watch this."

He slams his forearms together so that his arm is parallel to each other. And the clunky sound of a weapon transforming starts to fill the air, reverberating around the nearby area, causing several people to look in our direction. The weapon opens up for a brief second allowing Jae to slide his wrists out from the weapon, and within the span of a couple seconds, the transformation starts to reveal a large handle, a barrel, and a bayonet made out of the four blades from the gauntlet.

"It transforms into a shotgun," he giggles, as he carries the weapon with an overly deft touch.

As to prove himself, he aims it into the dirt a couple feet away from him and fires. A surprisingly quiet bang resounds throughout the nearby area, causing a few heads more to turn our way, a couple birds to fly away from nearby trees, and my ears to ring slightly from the gunshot.

The dirt itself flies out from the ground and splatters in a cone away from Jae, some of it landing on the bark of a tree several feet away from where he fired, creating a literal shotgun blast of dirt in front of him.

"There are dust containers containing fire dust, so I can blow things up, while I blow things up," he says after the noise had cleared down, seemingly oblivious to my injured ears.

"Isn't dust expensive?" I ask absentmindedly as I walk over to him from where I was standing, shaking my head, and blinking harshly to push away my newly acquired ear damage.

"Yeah," he shrugs, "oh and don't tell anyone I shot the gun, I'm technically not supposed to do that outside of school grounds."

I make a very blatant effort to look around at the multitude of people who are currently looking at us, looking right at him as it to communicate that people already know.

Either Jae doesn't care or he doesn't get my hint, so I just sarcastically mutter, "Don't worry, I don't think anyone knows."

"Yeah," he brushes it off, "it took me about two and a half weeks to build this bad boy. Like, honestly, give me this weapon, some food, some water, and some porn, and I'll be set for a month," he grins, "I'm that happy," he accentuates shortly afterward.

I look it over one more time, taking in the sleek yet aggressive edges, letting out a sharp breath of appreciation at the care that went into it, "What have you named it?" I question.

He shrugs, "I've been thinking about it a bit. My two ideas are Emeritus Ultio, or just Talionis, but those sound a bit too cliche. But one good idea I've heard is that one kid did recommend that I call it 'The Fister'. What 'd ya think?"

I mutter them both as if to taste how they sound, "Emeritus Ultio sounds the coolest to me, although it does sound a bit too cliche, but 'The Fister' does have a nice ring to it."

Jae lets out a short bark of a laugh, saying shortly afterward, "I can just imagine," he says, changing his voice to one of mock seriousness, "In a world, where fear runs rampant. One man, armed with his very wits, will fist, all those who oppose him."

I let out a short chuckle, remaining silent as I'm commonly not the one to joke around as much.

Nonetheless, Jae continues, in his announcer's voice, "I've come to chew bubblegum and fist ass, and I'm all out of ass."

He finishes it out by opening his arms as if to assert some point.

He takes one second to look at me, before asking, "Too much?" In response to my more bland face.

I shrug, "I'm just kinda tired," I say, "honestly naming is up to you, if you wanna call your weapons 'The Fister', and go around telling people how you are about to fist them, then I won't stop you."

"Eh," he contemplates, "the joke'll grow boring after several times."

He pauses for a good couple seconds, as we just sit together in thought, although after a bit a large grin appears on his face, and he leans in and says, "anyways, ya know, I haven't tested out fighting with my weapon yet. So you wanna head to Mountain Academy to try it out?"

It takes me a good second to realize that he meant he's going to fight me, "You wanna test your weapon on me," I deadpan, "are you trying to actually train, or are you trying to kill me."

"Maybe a bit of both," he exasperates, "but c'mon, it'll be fun!"

I raise an eyebrow.

"Well for me," he continues nodding his head side to side, "buuuut, uh, ya know. You'd be a really good friend if you did!"

"Am I not a good enough friend already?" I ask feigning hurt and boredom at the same time.

"Well, you're good," he answers tilting his head side to side, "but right now, you're like right here," he says raising his right hand to eye level, "if you were to help me, you'd be about here," he raises his hand a good foot over his own head.

I think for a second as he watches attentively, "If you hurt me," I threaten, "I'm going to turn you inside-out."

* * *

 **Age 13**

 _Dear Caerus Ferrum,_

 _You have been chosen to join the prestigious Mountain Academy. This is what shall be your first step to becoming a huntsman, to become a valiant defender of mankind. As you've most likely heard, Mountain Academy is a highly accomplished school, with the highest acceptance rate of post-graduates into one of the four major huntsmen academies. In your joining of this school, you shall permanently be remembered as one of the brave men or woman, who put their life on the line for the good of others. If you choose to accept, you shall, from this day, and till your death, be part of the first and final defense against all those that threaten humanity._

 _This semester shall start on August 21, and continue through the year, ending on May 14. You are not needed to bring anything the first day, except an open mind, and a strong heart, as any necessities, will be provided to you, given that you attend._

 _We hope to see you there, and remember, from this day on, you shall go down in the annals of history as a hero._

 _P.S. If you do not want to attend Mountain Academy, or did not apply, kindly disregard this message._

I hold the, strangely stiff, manilla paper on my hand, reading over it, not able to contain the grin that inevitably sprouts on my face.

I swing my legs over the floor, as I sit in my bed, with back against the wall. As the morning light filters through the window perpendicular to me, casting long vibrant lights against the floor.

The wooden door across from me opens with an audible creak, Jae barging in slowly afterward.

"So did you get accepted?" He asks, partially out of breath.

I stare at him as I raise an eyebrow, "I've been accepted for the past couple years."

"Well, uh," he pauses for a second, "screw you," he returns, his exhaustion replaced with a fierce defensiveness.

"I thought you knew that," I tease, lying the acceptance letter on the bed next to me, as I stare at him.

He crosses his arms, as he frowns violently, with traces of a grin adorning the corner of his lips, "Well, unlike _you_ , I've been busy, with things, like you know, training to be a huntsman."

As I open to mouth to respond he walks out the doorway and into the hallway, slamming the door shut surprising me a bit, and from the hallway I can barely make out him saying, "See ya later, nerd!"

* * *

 **Several Days Later**

This is certainly not as exciting, nor as prestigious as I made it out to be in the letter I received.

I'm currently sitting in some large auditorium, with obnoxiously high windows that only seem to impose a feeling of oppressiveness in the room, with bleak and boring gray walls, with seemingly out of place marble pillars along said walls. The roof itself is arched in just a way to not only inspire feelings of awe but boredom as they grow old and outdated after a second of looking at them.

The floor is increasingly boring, with a coated wooden floor, that only seems to serve as a way to make me uncomfortable, as either they squeak like an over oiled basketball court, or just reflect light into my eyes. Currently the room is largely empty, although they were nice enough to set up chairs, that were probably bought off dollar stores, in rows for us to sit in, but the main attraction is the large gray pedestal on the opposite side of a room, with banners, with Atlas' signature logo, hanging along the wall further past the pedestal, and a lone microphone standing on the very edge of the podium, with no speaker.

It would have been a bit more peaceful, if it weren't for the fact that there are about 200 kids sitting in small groups talking their asses off, turning an otherwise peaceful yet oppressive room, into a way for me to get tinnitus... and a hatred for anything that talks.

Damn my oversensitive wolf ears.

Still, I'm not the only person that has noticed my faunus traits, as other kids have quite blatantly glanced over at me, and from what I've been able to garner, some of them are already gossiping about me. About what I can't exactly guess, as unlike what many people think, gossiping isn't exactly talking derogatory things about the recipient, but at the same time I would rather not ask.

A faunus anywhere in Atlas is bound to raise questions. As is the nature of Atlas.

I've mainly chosen to just ignore them, and just fiddle around with my hands for the time being. I'm debating going onto my scroll to do something, but my inner kid doesn't want to be that 'one guy' who's on his device right before the welcome speech, so I opt out of doing that.

My raving boredom is interrupted as a woman strides from a nearby door, and onto the podium, the clip-clop of her steps echoing way too loudly for just simple high-heels as the very shape of the room seems to help the loud noise of her walking by reflecting it back at us until it figuratively hurts to listen to.

First impressions, she is the definition of self-composed. She walks with her back in a perfectly straight line, and her chin angled upwards, giving the impression of the rich person who could not care for anyone that is not a minimum wealth. It doesn't hurt that she also has nearly pitch white hair, and blue eyes which almost shine, which both gives an imposing and experienced appearance, and long yet tight light blue and white robes which drape off of her, seeming to flow in a pattern with her step, making it almost seem like every bit of her stride was planned beforehand.

By the time she has reached the microphone the entire room has gone silent, besides the obvious and strangely loud sound of her shoes.

"Greetings," she drawls, her voice carrying a distinctly authoritarian tone, "I am Stehlen Frost. Headmistress of Mountain Academy, and assistant head of Atlas Academy."

She pauses for a brief second to let the information soak in, "From this day forward, you are part of a social elite, that is comprised of less than 1% of the population, you are going down the path less chosen, you are putting your safety in line for others, and I would like to commemorate you for that decision."

She pauses yet again, this time to scan the room of students with both a lazy and piercing expression, "The life of a huntsman and huntress, as you will soon find, if difficult and arduous, and by the end of your senior year, only half of you here today, will remain. Yet that is what makes us part of who we are. It is through these hardships do we find out what makes us who we are, and what we will be."

Another pause, "Each one of you was handpicked by General Ironwood, for a certain trait that makes you unique. As a result, _none_ of you are superior to others, each one of you has your own strengths and weaknesses, in what you may be strong at, another may be weak at. Which is why we will not stand for any discrimination."

Sheesh, although I think I can get where she is coming from.

"Your first day here, which is today, will be comprised of you running your schedule, and meeting each of your teachers. At the end of the day, we will hand you your new uniform, which we expect to be worn each and every single day if you have any questions refer to an e-mail we have sent to your scroll. If you have not received your scroll, then head to the front desk, where you shall receive one, free of charge."

This time, she gazes along the crowd again, seemingly able to stare each and every kid in the eye, "Do not be mistaken, I have high respect for those who chose to go down this profession, however at the same time, there is a set of expectations to those who do choose to become a huntsman. We do hope that you will stride forwards and one day become a proficient hunter."

She pauses one last time to take a breath and once again stare out into the crowd of eager faces, "That is all I have to say, if you have any remaining questions you shall forward them to the front desk. It has been a pleasure to meet you all."

And with her words still thick in the air, she strides out of the same door she came in, not once turning away from the direction she is walking. And even after she leaves, it almost feels like there is a thick smoke incapacitating everyone in the room, almost paralyzing everyone.

Cautiously, I stare around at each kid, who seems to hold their breath and stare at where she once stood, and only over the time period of the next minute do kids finally start breaking out of their stupor and start to talk once again, their fervent gossiping reduced to paranoid whispers.

* * *

So, it's been a fair bit through the day.

The school seems cool, if not very rigid. The teachers seem experienced, although I'm doubting some of their teaching abilities, as some of them just seem like they were forced to teach. In the way that they can't seem to care about how effective they are at teaching. But I doubt Atlas would just hire anybody to become a teacher so I feel like if I give it enough time they'll show their traits.

Still, I guess it's fun?

Eh, it just seems quite bland at the moment.

The kids, however, are moderately interesting. A lot of them, like me, do have some previous training, at least from what I can discern, and you do have pretty much every kind of kid. The jock who looks stronger than most adults, the nerd with the stereotypical glasses, the girl who wears too much makeup, the kids who think they are the best thing since sliced bread. You have em all. You have every variation of kid that could possibly exist in a school.

Except for fauni.

Well, besides Jae and I, I have only seen a single faunus. Which honestly, isn't that surprising. With the reputation of Atlas being the least faunus friendly kingdom, it really only makes sense. Of course, part of me noticing this is just my paranoid induced, well paranoia, about how much I stick out.

Any parent with reasonable care for their kids would not have them go to an anti-faunus hotspot to learn, much less in an already violent and dangerous profession of fighting others and the Grimm themselves.

From what I can garner, even some of the teachers don't like fauni, by the way, they visibly tensed up and frowned at my very sight. Although it certainly is fun, playing the part of the innocent 13-year-old, to make them choose between showing their obvious distaste towards me or just forcing them to act nice. Doing things like creating these sob stories to force them to either support me or just show how much they don't care.

It may be manipulative, but when you go through things I have gone through, you start doing things like this.

Still, I have been to all but one class, the class that seems like it would be the most interesting. Combat.

It's the only class which some person actually learns to fight. While I am not against other classes over history and science, it just feels like they are spending quite a bit too much time on those classes and not actually fighting.

But still, apparently, that changes once you actually get your weapon.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the importance of learning the history, with all that 'if you don't know history you are doomed to repeat it' bs, that I hear every Tuesday. It's just the fact that they seem to spend a surprisingly small amount of time on actual fighting.

There are so many times I can learn about the Great War before I want to invent a time machine and travel back in time to kill the Remnant equivalent of Hitler to stop myself from ever having to learn about it.

And not only that...

My thoughts are interrupted by someone tapping me on the shoulder.

Expecting the worst, meaning someone wanting to insult me, I whip around, however, I am instead met by a smaller kid, about my age, by himself, as the crowd parts around us giving us space on the side.

With the thought of someone potentially fighting me, I look him down, dark orange hair, green eyes, lanky yet muscular enough to show training, stands about my height, moderately expensive clothes. Yet with all that, and especially being in a school like this, he seems ungainly, standing with a curve on his back, twiddling with his fingers, constantly avoiding my eyes. Most people here are socially adept, as if the life of being a huntsman, yet with how socially awkward this kid is I can't help but already pity him.

"Hey, dude, uh," he stammers, looking towards the ground.

I raise an eyebrow as I turn around fully to look at him, my previously tense posture starting to loosen up a bit, "Yeah?" I merely respond.

"Uh," he continually stammers, "I just wanna say I'm sorry."

I pause a second and raise and eyebrow, "For what?" I question, slightly on the defensive, already wondering if he had tricked me into some elaborate prank that he was roped into doing.

"Ah, dammit," he stammers, glancing away from me and to a bench beside him "Uh… well, do you remember me?"

"Am I supposed to?" I respond both unnerved and curious.

"Maybe not," he replies rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "We didn't really meet in the best of situations."

"Okay," I respond merely shrugging, unsure about where he is taking this. I briefly check my scroll, trying to see the time, and once I do I reply, "I really need to get to my next class, so if you are going to say something, get it done," in a bit harsher voice than I intended.

"Well, uh… okay," he pauses, his shoulders slumping a bit, "Well dude, I just wanna say that I was there about two or three years ago."

"And?" I question not following him.

He bites his lip, "Uh… my brother was one of the kids who made fun of you on the streets three years ago…" he says meekly, "aaaand… I was the person that just stood there and did nothing."

"Oh," I respond quietly, unsure of what to think.

"I just want to say that I'm sorry for what happened there," he continues, a bit faster as if it was a reflex, all while fidgeting uncomfortably, "my brother hasn't had the best experiences with fauni, and while it doesn't excuse him for what he did… well, I'm not sure, I just wanna say I'm sorry because I felt really bad for doing nothing."

"How did you know I'm the same person?" I ask more curious than upset.

"Well, it's ah," he points towards my head, "well, uh, your, you know? Ears," he stammers, obviously awkward about discussing my faunus traits.

"Wolf fauni aren't that uncommon," I respond, probing him slightly.

He shrugs awkwardly, "I don't know, maybe it was just blind luck then," he fidgets again uncomfortably again, "Again, I just wanna say I'm sorry. I should have done something to stop him."

I wave my hand dismissing his apology, "It's okay, I live in Atlas, so I've gotten used to it," I respond, partially giving into the childish feeling of being the victim in society to empower myself.

"Really?" he asks cringing, "dude, that must suck."

I merely just shrug in response, unsure of how to respond to that.

"Anyways," I continue, "I gotta go to my next class, see you later, I guess," walking off shortly after, waving with one hand over my shoulder, and I adjust my shoulder to more comfortably hold my backpack.

"Wait!" he shouts jogging slightly to catch up with me, "which class are you going?"

I pull out my scroll from my pocket and unlock it for a second, "Combat class with Mr. Boreal."

"Uh... That's cool… I mean, I have him also," he mutters awkwardly, "Well, I think," he pulls out his scroll fidgeting it with shaking fingers, "no… wait, yeah I have him also."

He looks at the floor for a second and fidgets with his fingers, "mind if I come with you."

I shrug, "sure," however, after a couple seconds I stop, "I never got your name by the way."

"Ah," he stammers stumbling over his words for a second, "S-smoke. Ray Smoke."

"Caerus Ferrum," I respond holding out my hand, grinning a bit too wolfishly at his awkwardness "good to meet you."

* * *

"So, what'd'ya think of your first day at Mountain?" Jae asks as I lie down on my bed playing with my scroll."

"Seems kinda cool," I respond glancing at him for a second, "the headmistress seems strict, though."

"You have no idea!" he half shouts, nearly standing up from the chair he is sitting in, "She terrifies me. I swear to Oum, I think she has it out for me. In fact, I'm convinced that she's a vampire and that one day she's going to drink my blood while I'm not looking."

"Is she that bad?" I ask looking up from my scroll and at him.

"There's rumors going around that she kidnaps bad kids and locks them in the basement," he says.

"Jae," I respond shaking my head, "there is no basement."

"And that's what she wants you to think!" He disclaims, "Caerus, for the love of Oum! Stay away from her! She's going to kidnap you and take her to her hidden sex dungeon!"

"I thought you said she's a vampire."

"She's both!" He shouts, "she only drinks the blood of virgins! And I know you are still one!"

"Ooookay," I mutter, shaking my head at his antics, "anything else you want to tell me?"

He pauses and looks at the roof in thought, "So, yeah stay away from Mrs. Frost, because she'll turn you into a voodoo doll, and uh…" he pauses again, "you have Mr. Blanc?"

"I don't think so," I respond shaking my head.

"Well, if you do," he says looking at me, "switch out of his class immediately. He'll fail you for just asking to use the restroom at the wrong point, and no, that is not a joke."

I nod, only paying half attention to what he says, "Okay… anything else?"

"Hmm," he hums scratching his chin, "you have Mr. Boreal?"

"Yeah."

"He's pretty cool," he continues, "tell him that you know me. He really likes me."

I stare at him for a good second, "Why do I feel that there's more to it than that?"

"Do you really trust me this little?" he exasperates, dropping his arms in an overly dramatic fashion.

I stare at him for a good second.

"Okay, point taken," he continues, straightening up a bit, "but still, Mr. Boreal is really cool once you get to know him. He is actually very good friends with General Ironwood, and some people even say that they might be lovers."

I sigh making a point to show what I think of his supposed rumors, "What else?" I question.

"Uhhh," he continues, "everyone else I have is quite boring, although stay away from Mr. Forests."

"Why?" I ask.

"Just stay away from him," he responds, "he just really creeps me out."

I shrug as things quiet down for a bit, "so, uh," he stammers slightly, "anything else interesting happen?"

I look up at the bunk bed above me in thought, shortly after remembering my interaction with Ray, "remember that time two years ago," I ask, "when, after you tried hitting on that girl, those three boys, on the streets, started teasing us?"

"The time where I beat the shit out of them?"

"Yes," I confirm.

"Then yeah," he continues, "why? Did they come back?"

"Kind of," I mutter adjusting my position on the bed, "you remember how there was that one kid who just stayed to the side?"

"Orange hair, skinny, and looked like a reject from the Muppets?"

"Yes him," I confirm yet again, "apparently he goes to Mountain."

Without a beat, Jae asks, "Well then, want me to kill him for you?"

"Not yet," I respond, "he came up to me and apologized for what happened. He seemed nice enough."

Jae pauses for a second, "I wouldn't trust him, though," he says affirmatively.

I shrug, "Have really only talked to him. Beyond that, I'm not planning to go out with him on a date or anything."

"Hmm," Jae thinks in thought, "What's he like?"

"Horribly awkward holds himself in a very pessimistic way, and says 'dude' too much," I answer.

"Eh," he shrugs, "still wouldn't trust him."

Again I shrug, "You don't need to mother on about this, and plus if he does try something I'm going to turn them into a human battery," I say with a voice kind of saying it's up for discussion.

For several seconds we remain quiet, unsure of what to say. To which I take the time to go back to my scroll and tinker around with it a bit more, while Jae looks out the window and into the sunset.

"Oh!" I remember, "have you sent the applications to the academies yet?"

"Yep," he says popping the 'p', "Sent it to Atlas, Beacon, Haven, and Shade. Only waiting for one of 'em to reply."

* * *

 **The Next Day**

Our current lesson brought us to the outlying tundra forests, just outside of Atlas.

At this time of year, it is currently snowing profusely, covering the trees with a large layer of snow that looks like it is going to fall any second now, and blanketing the ground in a thick sheet of the white substance, which makes traversing extra difficult.

Now only that but the biting cold seems to grip each and every person, despite what each kid says. Causing even the most well-dressed kids to start shivering eventually, and causing the less dressed kids to risk getting frostbite.

Despite all these negative aspects, the sun shines as bright as ever, reflecting off of the fresh snow, making everything, from the unnaturally large boulder, to the rolling hills, to the towering trees to reflect light to an uncomfortable degree, giving everyone of a certain whiteness at risk of turning into an tomato..

Just your classic Atlas winter.

Now, despite all this, despite the thick snow that makes running nigh impossible, despite the biting cold that could kill a man in half a day, despite the glare of the sun reflecting off of the snow that could give you a sunburn that will make your skin peel off in layers, despite all that, my most pressing fear is the fear of Grimm.

Now, most of this I know is just bad memories in the forest, and of Grimm, as the school has taken extra preparation in making sure there are no nearby Grimm, to the point of having several bullheads patrol overhead, probably, of course, due to the event that happened several years ago.

But of course, even the machines Atlesian soldiers use to scan the ground below them can make fatal mistakes.

Now, as stated, this fear is mostly founded in paranoia. And chances are, nothing will happen, and from what I could garner, even when Grimm do find a way to bypass the patrols, any situation is quickly extinguished with minimal casualties, minimum as in some kid probably tripping over a rock accidentally and scraping his hand.

There are trained huntsmen with us, not hyper kids who think they are cool, if a Grimm shows up, it's going to be killed near instantly. As most kids are more likely than not hoping a Beowolf will show up so they can use some of the things they have been taught.

But, you may be asking yourself, what would bring us to the nearby forests, especially in the dead of winter, with the possibility of Grimm attacking? Well, it falls along the lines of the combat teacher, Mr. Boreal, or Nox Boreal, deciding that it would be good practice to fight outside, in some harsher conditions than the combat gym that they have at Mountain Academy.

Part of me just thinks that it is an excuse to get outside, but I'm not really in a place to judge, as honestly, I could do with some outside time also.

Now, at most, there are only two battles going on at a time. Something about Mr. Boreal having to keep track of each battle to make sure the kids don't accidentally kill each other.

And no, that is not an exaggeration. Some kids have literally no control over their semblances. And some kids are too stupid to leave alone for five minutes.

"Hey, dude, " Ray says coming up from behind me, "uh, mind if I stand with you."

"Sure," I return glancing over him.

He's wearing quite some thick clothes, all covered with some fancy embroidery, with some rich colors that already look to have faded a bit. He's breathing moderately heavily, and I can see some sweat bead up on his forehead, as well as a blush on his face as the cold seems to have slightly pierced his thick winter clothes. In comparison, I'm only wearing a shirt with a jacket over it, pants and a beanie on top, giving myself the look that I'm horribly underdressed.

"Have you been fighting?" I guess, summarizing from the clues that are given.

"Y-Yeah," he stammers a bit, "Barely won, though. Dude tripped on a rock covered in snow, and I just took it from there," he takes a second to take a breath, "Have you fought yet?"

"No," I respond blatantly, "Not sure if there will be time to, anyways."

"Aww, would've been cool to see you fight," he exasperates.

I raise an eyebrow at him, "Why, you want to try to get an advantage by watching how I fight?"

"No, wait, yes, no, wait, maybe," he repeats, "I don't know! Dude, it'd just be cool to see you fight. You seem like you can hold yourself in a battle."

"Thanks, I guess," I respond.

"I don't know," he mutters, "I'm a nerd when it comes to fighting. Like, dude, I'm the person that'll watch Vytal duels in one-fourth the speed, to examine each and every thing they do."

I shrug, "There could be worse things to do."

"Sure," he mutters dejectedly.

We remain silent for several seconds, while I watch a nearby fight that goes on. Taking a second to scratch behind one of my faunus ears, in order to get a stray piece of snow that had snuck up there.

Ray shrugs a bit as we stand here for a short period of time, Ray watching some of the fights going on as I watch the surrounding area around me, desperately praying that there is nothing hiding beyond my sight and range of hearing.

"What are you planning to do once you graduate from a hunters academy?" Ray asks offhandedly surprising me a bit.

I think a bit, as I've never quite thought of what I would do after I would have graduated from one of the 4 main hunters academy, that is if I do even get accepted in the first place. Still, I always had thought that things would be wrapped up at that point, meaning that I'm honestly not all that sure, leaving me quite a bit stumped at this question.

Ray notices that slightly as he recoils a bit thinking he had said something wrong as he apologizes, "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be," I say interrupting him, "Never thought about it all that much," I continue pausing for a bit to gather my thoughts, "I think I'd probably continue working for Atlas, at least for the time being, trying to do good things, or protect others. I'm honestly not all that sure, I more just go with the flow."

He nods a bit as he continues looking off at a nearby fight.

"What about you," I ask a bit curious about his motivations.

"I... I'm probably going to go to one of those small villages," he starts stammering a bit, "you know, like the ones on the outskirts of Atlas and try to help the people there. Protect them from raiders, Grimm and things like that."

I nod my head as well not thinking much about it, and for a short time we remain silent as we both stare off in our own respective directions thinking about separate things, that is at least until Ray surprises me once again by saying.

"Okay, dude," he finally says after half a minute of silence, "my mom made me ask this. But, uh," he stumbles over his words a bit, "well… I was wondering… do you want to, you know, come over to my house this weekend?"

I turn and raise an eyebrow at him, "Do you want this, or does your mother want this?"

"I'm not sure dude," he stammers, "I mean, it would be cool if you were to come over. But, I understand if you wouldn't. Hell, you're probably busy doing stuff, and I wouldn't want…"

I interrupt him by saying, "I'll come if you want."

"Okay, that's cool, I guess," he continually stammers, "I mean, I didn't expect you to say yes, and well, I… uh… I'll just shut up now."

I chuckle slightly at his antics, "Where do you live, and when should I come over?"

"Uh," he thinks for a second, "Here, can you give me your scroll."

I fish it out of my pocket, open it up, insert the password and hand it to him. He taps away for a couple second, before handing it back to me. He has opened up the notebook app, and opened up a new note, and put down apparently his address.

"And, uh, I guess you could come over at ten-ish Saturday…" he pauses for a second in thought, "I'm not actually that sure. I'll have to ask my mom."

I'll probably just walk over. As a quick input into the map app tells me that it is only about a 10-minute walk away.

I then remember something, causing my hand to freeze over my scroll, and my voice to shake a bit with paranoia, "What about your older brother?"

"What about him?"

"Doesn't he not like fauni?" I continue, taking a deep breath afterward to calm myself down.

"Oh," he pauses for a second, "Don't worry dude, he traveled to Vale with some friends, and he won't be back for another week."

"And your parents?" I ask.

"They're not as bad as my brother," he answers, "I mean, yeah they'll be kind of upset that you're a faunus. No offense. But at the same time they're generally quite cool, and probably won't care. I mean, my dad might, but my mom will probably tell him to keep it to himself or something. I don't know."

I am about to say something when the familiar voice or Mr. Boreal shouts out from behind a nearby tree, "Caerus! Get your ass over here! You're fighting!"

* * *

 **This chapter was… very interesting to write. As I really had my first experience with writer's block. I'll spare you the details, but no matter what I did, I couldn't seem to find this chapter as all that interesting. Although compared to the first draft, I do quite like how this turned out.**

 **Also! There's a bit of a bigger reason why this chapter took so long to come out. Originally I continued this chapter onwards, and it was going to be a lot longer (I'm not going into details as it's going to be a surprise), however, once it started breaching the 8,000 word mark, and I'm only halfway done with the next part, I decided to cut it down to this, and release this part early. So the next chapter, will hopefully, come out sooner? I don't know, but this is basically the first half of what was supposed to be the next chapter, hence how boring it is.**

 **Anyways, I'm probably going to speed through Mountain Academy, and once Caerus reaches Atlas Academy will things probably slow down a bit. Well, a lot.**

 **Also, the Stehlen Frost, and Mr. Boreal (The Headmistress, and combat instructor respectively), are not characters I'm planning to implement, so hence I won't really flesh them out all that much.**

 **Thanks again to Emiliano733, theawsomest5, shamwoohoo52, DamascusVazarin, and DownSmashJon for their reviews!**

 **And a bit on weapon submissions! I've received some good stuff, and while the two things I've gotten have been both quite good, I'll be honest when I say that chances are, I won't use, word for word, what someone submits. Chances are, I'll borrow aspects from what I like from each submission, and combine it into a new weapon. So, yeah. But thanks again for the submissions!**

 **Till next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

The dirt-colored snow crunches pleasantly under my boots as I amble my way along the sidewalk and towards Ray's house. I stare at the ground in front of me, as I listen to the music on my scroll, happily ignoring outside interference.

Before I even reach his house, I get the impression that he lives in the richer part of Atlas, away from the exact center of Atlas, so that each house has the space to be huge sprawling labyrinths, but close enough to still have good property value.

As such, quite unlike the orphanage, which is set right in the middle of Atlas, there is a surprising lack of sounds, no patrolling bullheads, no cars passing by, no straying conversations, just the occasional passerby, why look at me with varying emotions, mainly due to my faunus heritage, although it is a good enough neighborhood that everybody waves with permanent smiles, so reactions have been relatively better.

So in some ways it is the same, but at the same time, the silence is almost cathartic just listening to. It's kind of like the thing you never realized you wanted until you finally have it, although I might be digging into this a bit too much.

My half-meditation is interrupted by reaching the supposed house in which Ray lives, a brief check of my scroll confirming my belief, and already it screams well off.

A large wall around the house, that seems to provide both protection and some nice visual aspects, with an open gate, interconnected lines carved into the metal. A garden on the inside, with a small stream running down the middle, that somehow hasn't frozen over. A rock pathway up and to the front door, with a wooden patio in front of it. A large glass door, and window facing the front driveway that's tinted enough to just not allow me to see inside.

Pulling my hands out of my jacket pockets, I walk up to the door and knock it a couple times.

A woman, clad in a gray apron, rushes up to the door, wipes her hand with a cloth, and opens it up. She appears only slightly taller than me, with black hair, and blue eyes.

With a smile, she says, "You must be Caerus."

"Yes," I respond, "pleasure to meet you." I continue, sticking out my hand for her to shake.

She makes a point to look down at her hands, to which they look to be still covered in some grease.

"Oh, uh," I stammer slightly, "I guess, good to meet you." I say just nodding this time, in a friendly manner, to replace our handshake.

She lets out a lighthearted laugh saying, "My apologies! Ray said you like steak, and I was in the middle of cooking it when you arrived. But please, it's a pleasure to meet you, come inside."

I step inside saying, "That's really nice of you."

"It's nothing," she replies with a cheerful smile. Her voice drops a bit, but nonetheless keeps the friendly attitude, "anyways, I don't think Ray has introduced me to you."

"No," I respond, shaking my head.

"Makes sense of him," she quips lightheartedly, "I'm Aurora Smoke, mother of Ray Smoke. My husband, who is currently working, is Clancy Smoke, and from what I've heard, you must be Caerus Ferrum."

"That's correct," I respond with a small smile on my face, "good to meet you," I say, again putting my hand out for her to shake.

It takes a second to realize, I had already tried this tactic, so I awkwardly retract my hand, a blush forming on my face. Luckily for me, however, Aurora just laughs and says, "Don't worry, we've all been in this situation."

I also laugh, trying to regain my composure. Aurora continues nonetheless, still wiping her hands on some kitchen towel "So how did you two meet?"

Oh…

I pull my hands out of my pocket, as I mentally discuss if I should tell her the full story, however, at the moment I decide to just tell her the truncated version, "we met on the first day at Mountain Academy."

"That's nice," she starts, "I'll be honest here, Ray hasn't had many friends, and it's really nice of you to be so friendly to him."

"Really?" I ask, in response to what she said. Taking a second to stamp off the snow on my shoes, take them off, and line them up next to the doorway, seeing several other pairs.

"Mm hmm," she hums in confirmation, "he's always been quite socially awkward, and would find it hard to make friends. It's actually part of the reason why he wanted to become a huntsmen, so that people would recognize him."

I nod slightly, in recognition of what she is saying.

"Anyways," she continues, "Ray should be upstairs, playing some video game."

She points behind me, to which there is a staircase, traveling up to the next floor.

"Down the hall and to the right," she continues as I stare at the next floor.

"Thanks," I nod, as she smiles in return. She quickly rushes off to the kitchen, her apron swishing side to side, quite obviously annoying her. Unsure of what to do, I merely smile at the antics, before starting to make my way up the stairs.

* * *

So we hung out for a while.

Things were going kinda well. We talked for a bit, joked a bit more, then started goofing off. Turns out Ray is a video game person, and while I can't really blame him, being one in my previous life, I can partially see what my mother, in my previous life said, about how there are potentially some better hobbies.

Nonetheless, we played the Remnant equivalent, of a mixture of World of Warcraft and Call of Duty, a game where you basically create your own huntsmen, or huntress, and spend time leveling them up in PVE or PVP.

Still time started flying by, and we ended up at dinner, which is about the time Clancy, Ray's father, also returned from work… and his reaction to me was less than stellar. He was kind enough to keep his dislike down to a minimum, merely frowning at me instead of doing anything serious. Although I could easily tell that he was less than happy about me being a faunus. Although I think that Ray's mom, Aurora, gave him a slight scolding a bit afterward, based on the fact that she dragged him around the corner for a bit.

"So," Aurora, says, taking a break from eating her steak, "Ray told me you also attend Mountain Academy."

I merely nod in response, as I was halfway through taking a bite of steak, being overly careful about my manners.

"That's nice," she hums slightly, "it's' nice to see quite a bit of diversity in Mountain Academy. Although if you don't' mind me asking, why do you want to be a huntsmen?"

I shrug a bit having almost finished my bite of steak, "I'm kinda not as driven as other people," I lazily comment, "I want to help people, I want to feel like I did something for the good of others and it seems like being a huntsmen is the easiest way to go by it."

Despite my rather boring answer, she smiles a bit, Ray deciding to finally speak up, "You seem very good at fighting though."

I let out a small chuckle as a response to the kind comment, "You didn't seem half-bad either."

He shrugs awkwardly, "Uh, I mean I'm rich and have all this stuff, and I still kinda suck. Honestly part of the reason I want to become a huntsmen is because there isn't much I'm good at. I mean, Red… uh my older brother," he comments realizing I don't know who he is, "is kinda a genius, he's going to attend a really good college and stuff."

Aurora is quick to step in, saying, "Sweetie, you know that you're better than you think."

And I only try to add onto that, continuing, "I do think that you are undermining yourself. Honestly, the only reason, I am nearly as good as I am is because I have been practicing for a good 7 years at this point."

My ear twitches slightly, but I ignore it.

"Really?" Aurora asks, "That's very impressive."

"Yeah," I mutter, picking at a new piece of steak with a fork, "my friend and I would go to one of the training grounds twice a week to train," I turn to Ray, "I'm still training with him, if you want you could join is a bit."

He blushes, and stammers a bit, Aurora bunting in shortly afterward, saying towards Ray, "I think you would like that."

"I mean," he stammers a bit, "Yeah… but. I don't even know who he is training with, and they probably have their own routine, and stuff."

I shrug, hiding my amusement of Ray's awkwardness, and continue pushing him, "my friend is kinda lax about training, we generally just fight each other and give tips."

"Sounds like you've known this friend for quite a while," Aurora comments, prodding me to continue.

I hum halfway through my bite, continuing shortly afterwards, "I've known him for 7 years, although we had been living with each other for longer."

There is an awkward silence as it takes me a second to realize what I had just said, "Ah… uh. I don't really have any parents," I comment, wringing my hands as my ears start folding on in itself, "I live in an orphanage."

Ray, Aurora, and Clancy take a second to stare at each other, at this realization. Ray and Aurora have a silent conversation, which I make out as her asking Ray if he knew this, and Ray shaking his head no.

Aurora ends up asking me, still in her soft, and smooth voice, "I'm sorry for you."

I wave a hand to show that it really isn't that much of a problem, "I mean, I never really knew my parents, or anything like that. So it's kinda okay, honestly."

Aurora thinks for another second before asking, "If you don't mind me asking, which orphanage do you live in?"

I think for a second recalling the name, "Guardian Orphanage."

Aurora shakes her head, "I don't think I've heard of that one."

"Uh," I think for a second, trying to think of directions, "It's off of I-75, a couple blocks down the Natural Art History Museum."

This time my ear picks up the faint sound of a some footsteps outside the house, but I brush it off as some gardeners or something, just pushing it to the back of my mind.

Nonetheless, Aurora nods a bit.

Clancy, finally breaking the silence finally asks in a gruff voice with forced kindness, "Are there a lot of fauni there?"

I stammer a second not expecting him to say something, "Uh… I-I think there's the average amount, maybe a bit more than normal."

I hear some more footsteps.

Aurora gives Clancy a verbal lashing, at his potentially rude question, before asking, "Are there a lot of adoptions there?"

I think for a second, laughing a bit afterwards at how it works, "Generally yeah, although there are two things that kind of stop me from being adopted. One, of course, I'm a faunus, and two, I've kinda reached the age that no one really wants to adopt me anymore."

Realizing how that could potentially be misinterpreted as a harsh insult to myself I continue trying to fix my previous statement, "I mean, I'll probably just live there until I'm 18, then I'll just move out and hopefully be a huntsman."

Even more footsteps.

"I'm sorry," I say twisting around and looking through a glass sliding door to the backyard, "Are there supposed to be people in your backyard."

I continue staring for a second trying to find any movement, seeing nothing I turn back around to see Aurora visibly pale, and Clancy gripping the table violently, while Ray just looks out of the window I was looking out of, confusion etched into his face.

"Oh," I mutter, realizing this may be important.

I turn back again, and after a good second, my eyes adjust the darkness, and I can make out the faint sight of a humanoid on the far end of the backyard, crouching near some bushes. However, what stands out the most to me, is the bone white mask, and the blood red lines trailing down the mask.

It takes me a full second to realize what it is. Pulling on memories, not from this life, but from my previous. And from those memories, my mind deduces the both interesting and horrifying realization, that outside, is a White Fang member.

And before I can comprehend anything else, he seems to realize I have spotted him, and in a swift yet jerky motion, he pulls out an assault rifle from his back, and aims it directly at me.

Oh shit.

"Get down!" I yell instinctually.

I'm barely out of my chair, and half way through shouting when a loud bang bounces through the house, one of the glass windows shattering. And a split second later, another one follows suit, another pane of glass shattering.

And as time goes on, it appears that it isn't going to stop, bang after excruciatingly loud bang shouting in suit, everything around me starting to be shredded by the literal hail of bullets flying over me.

After an indefinite time period, I finally gain control of my body once again and rush towards a nearby counter in the kitchen, one that will hopefully put some cover in between me and the shooter.

However, halfway through my desperate dash, I turn around, trying to see what is going on, only to see Aurora on the ground, seemingly in shock, while Clancy tries to grab both Ray and Aurora, and drag them to the counter I am rushing to.

I verbally curse, turning around, and rushing towards Ray, who just sits in his chair, like a deer in the headlights. I push him towards the counter I had previously rushed towards, hoping he'll get the message, as I run over to Aurora, and Clancy, trying to push them towards the counter.

Mid push, I feel something slam into my side, and it takes me a brief horror filled second to realize that it was a bullet, that had slammed against my aura. Deflecting off, and landing on the ground a few feet away from me, the bronze colored bullet glaring at me violently.

Luckily, and eternity later Clancy, and I are able to help Aurora reach the counter, as I take a second to sit down and think, hyperventilating the entire time.

The White Fang… they are supposed to be a peace organization at the moment. I guess this is where they change. Still, apparently what they make up in munitions they lack in accuracy, as with the time they had to shoot at us, as far as I'm aware, I'm the only one that was hit.

And on that note, I pull out my Scroll, my fingers shaking with terror, opening up the app that is generally used in training. Only to see that I lost a fifth of my aura with that one shot.

And he's using an assault rifle. So in just 4 to 5 more shots, I'll be bleeding. I may have trained my aura to defend against punches, but a bullet is a bullet, and a bullet can kill.

Mother of fuck.

"O-Okay," I stammer breaking the silence that now lingers heavily, the White Fang having stopped their barrage of fire. I take a second to think, "I-Is everyone okay?"

Clancy turns to me. For a second I think he's upset at me, but as I look closer I start to see how unsure about this he is also, while he does have a stoic face, I can tell plenty enough, by the quiver in his eyes, and the shaking of his hand that he may be just as, if not more terrified than I am. As even after a good second, he is barely able to manage out a, "F-fine."

Aurora is barely able to squeak out a, "I'm alright," her face shades paler than normal, to the point in which she looks like her skin is white.

Ray merely stares off into the distance, his eyes unfocused, and his hands shaking violently.

It takes me a good second to realize, that if we are to escape this, I may need to take control.

Okay then… First things first. I guess. Try to figure out where they are. I hold my left wrist with my right hand, and start focusing my semblance into it, the familiar and comforting feeling of my hand going both numb and energized, as lightning builds up, causing small trails of rogue bolts to run along my fingers.

After I am satisfied with how much I have built up, I listen carefully to see if anyone is nearby. Slightly more confident after hearing no one, I peek around the edge of the counter trying to spot anyone.

Luckily, I don't have my head blown off, and after seeing no one. I decide that I may have a bit more time to think, since they may be regrouping.

"Okay, okay, okay," I mutter to myself. After a brief second I turn to Ray and his family, "is there any safer place than this?" Realizing that there is a window right across from us, giving some potential White Fang a member a clear sightline on us.

Clancy responds in a timely manner, managing to say in a more confident and careful voice, "I have a pistol in my bedroom."

"Where's that," I ask, a shard of hope sprouting inside of me.

Without saying anything he points across from me, and to a doorway on the other side of the kitchen. While my first instinct is to run for it, a closer examination shows that it puts me directly in the way where we were originally shot from, meaning that I'll get shredded before I even reach the bedroom.

"Is there any other way to your bedroom," I ask, after thinking for a couple seconds.

Clancy shakes his head. Although a second later Ray sits up himself and whispers scared, "I…" he takes a deep breath, "I may be able to help."

I tilt my head and raise an eyebrow to visually ask him what he means.

"Ah, uh," he says stumbling over my words, "I… my semblance is to create these gasses... uh smokes, and I can try to create a smoke to hide us."

I nod a bit realizing how that could help, "Do you think you could create one to conceal us as we go to the bedroom?" Just to make sure that he could do it.

"Maybe," he stammers, "I… I'm not sure, I'm kinda okay with it, although I think…"

 **Crack**

"Sh, sh, sh, sh ,sh" I whisper, putting a finger to my lips. Immediately everyone goes silent as I tune in my faunus ears to try to figure out what happened, where, all while charging up my semblance in my left hand.

 **Crack**

Okay… It sounds like someone is slowly walking on the glass.

 **Crack**

And it sounds like he is coming from the broken glass panel, and towards us.

 **Crack**

And by the footsteps, it sounds like there is only one person.

 **Crack**

And by how loud he is, he should only be several feet away.

Okay… I'll just wait until he gets close enough. Then I'll zap him… or shock him, or whatever you wanna call it.

So I reach up and put my non-charged hand on the counter, and wait until the footsteps get an eerily close, before I pull myself up, and with my other hand jut it outwards, towards the first body I see, almost missing him due to my speed.

My aim is slightly off, but due to the bitchy nature of lighting, the partially directed bolt grabs onto him and sends him down with spasms. Smoke starting to rise off his chest, along with the slow rise and fall of his breathing.

Okay, good news then. They may have powerful weapons, but they aren't trained huntsmen, and I don't accidentally kill them.

My mental tirade is stopped by bullets flying past me, accompanied with a loud bang. My heart skips a beat for a second before I dive down behind the counter again.

They now know where we are, all because I decided to get a bit heroic and try to fight against one member, "Fucking, fuck," I mutter to myself, shaking out a fright. I wave a hand at Ray saying, "Ray, just… just do the smoke thing."

He nods with wide eyes. He crawls more over to the edge of the counter and takes in a deep breath, to the point in which I think it isn't physically possible to breathe in, and then even more so.

After a good 10 seconds, he breaths out, and with that, a thick gray smoke comes out of his mouth, quickly filling up the air around us, quickly obscuring my vision, all while I charge up another blast in my hand, if needed.

After a good couple seconds of breathing out a large cloud of smoke, which now envelops half of the house, Ray turns to me, out of breath, and says, "I… I think we're good."

I nod in response, and shuffle my way over to Ray's parents and beckon them over with a touch and follow gesture. They seem to get the response, as Aurora starts waddling her way over, Clancy hunched over her protectively.

Luckily our plan goes almost without a hitch, as with the count of three, we dash our way through the smoke and into the bedroom, the only caveat being that they heard us, and fired randomly trying to hit us.

Still, it's successful enough, and after a second we close the door and lock it, giving us some time to think.

I take this time to let out a deep breath I didn't even know I was holding in.

Okay… okay, okay… Mother of fuck. I signed up as a huntsman to kill Grimm, not get attacked by the White Fang, although at the moment I think they don't know where we are.

I turn to Clancy, just as he pulls out a pistol from a safe, putting a separate clip into his pocket, "Well," I mutter breathing out, "we… we need to call the police."

"Agreed," he merely says in response.

So, I fish out my scroll, and toss it over to Ray, thinking in the process. The room has two windows along the wall which peer into the backyard, however, the lights are turned off, and the curtains are in front of it, which means that they can't see us, and we aren't really giving our position away.

So, we might get some buffer time while the try to figure out where we went, and we could theoretically try and hold out here until the police arrive, by barricading the bed against the doorway, but they could just shoot through the windows, rendering a defense fallible.

And, even more so, I don't think a wooden bed frame is bulletproof, unless they started infusing tree wood with dust and the shavings of an burnt dinner roll.

And, now that I think of it, moving the bed would make a hell of a lot of noise, which would easily give our position away. Whoopity doo!

So… uh. Do we play keep away now?

Ah, fuck it. "Ray," I half-whisper, "is the police responding?"

He holds up one finger while he continues talking, "Y-yeah. We're in my parent's bedroom… I think so… we'll try."

With a large sigh he hands my scroll back and says, "So, uh, the police is on their way, but… uh… t-they said it might take up to 15 minutes."

"Okay… okay…" I mutter out loud, thinking to myself, "I'll watch the doorway, can…"

I hear footsteps outside.

Shushing everybody with a wave of my hand, I limber my way over to the door, charging up a bolt of lighting in caseit is needed, pushing aside the tiredness that comes with doing that for another time.

I hear them walk up to the door, and for a brief second it feels like they are just going to walk past, however, their footsteps stop right outside the doorway, only confirming my fears, and a quick glance under the doorway, confirms that there are two people there.

 **Bang Bang**

Fuck… Fuck. They know we're here… okay… okay… I could try to zap em' from under the doorway, but I doubt that would work, my semblance is too wild, and unless I have some sort of medium it will just discharge on the door, and as far as I know, I don't exactly have some easy to use medium to...

Medium…

"Ray," I whisper, lightly jogging over to him, "Can you conjure up some mist?"

"I-I-I think so," he stutters, "Wh-why?"

I drag him over to the doorway gently, "Breath it under the doorway."

He turns to me, scared and confused, "I… I don't…"

"Just do it, I'll use it to electrocute them," I finish, talking as fast as physically possible.

An expression of brief realization envelops him, as he leans in front of the doorway, carefully taking in a deep breath, shortly afterward exhaling under the doorway, a gray mist traveling under the doorway.

 **Boom Boom Boom**

"Open up!" a voice shouts.

Ray jumps back, startled, the banging stunning him out of focus, one brief glance tells me that it would take too long for him to continue breathing out mist, so throwing stealth out the window, I dive down, and partially shove my hand under the door, discharging it in the process.

"Hey!" one of them shouts, however, before he can continue, I hear some grunts and spams, followed by two loud 'fwumps' signalling that, hopefully, my plan worked.

Glancing under the doorway, I come face to face, with the unconscious form of one man, jumping back slightly at his proximity.

Okay… I think it worked, although everyone in a 5-mile radius probably knows where we are now… buuuut, the people outside the door probably had weapons, and it could help to grab them… however, at the same time, it sounds like a good way to get ourselves killed.

"Hey!" I whisper, facing Clancy, "I'ma grab the guns, make sure no one shoots me."

He nods quickly, saying something to Aurora and Ray, before walking up right next to me, standing on the opposite side of the door.

I count down from three, whispering it just loud enough for him to hear. Once I reach one, I as carefully as possible, open the door, trying to keep it as silent as possible, and before I even check to see if anyone is there, I'm already on the ground searching for any weapons.

After a brief, horror-filled second, I realize no one is shooting, meaning that I may not die quite yet, still, I frantically turn over both of the bodies, until I am able to pull out both of the assault rifles they were carrying, literally throwing it back into my room.

And then I stand up, only to come face to face with a hail of bullets.

Fucking, fuck, fuck, fuckedy fuck!

Common sense immediately has me dive back onto the ground, as I scramble my way back into the room, I briefly notice Clancy standing inside the bedroom, along with the wall, shooting out of the doorway, possibly distracting whoever is shooting in our direction enough to let me not die.

I literally dive into the room, Clancy closing it right behind me, several bullets punching through it immediately afterwards, causing light to stream through the bullet holes and into the room.

Not feeling quite safe enough I dive against the wall, and curl up into a ball, holding my hands in my head, and covering both pairs of ears, trying to drown out the noise.

Inoutinoutinoutinout in out in out in out in out in… out… in… out… in… out… okay.

That… that was a bit too close for comfort.

I look up to see Clancy make his way towards me, concern etched into his harsh features, "Are you alright?" he asks, once he is a foot away from me.

"I'm f… I'm fine… Just… just give me a moment," I stutter out still hyperventilating.

Clancy gives me a second to compose myself, before he continues, "They now know where we are... " he turns to me, "do you have any other plan?"

"I… I don't know," I whimper out, "I'm not even sure how we've gotten this far… I…" I take a deep breath, "does anyone have any other plan at the moment?"

Ray raises a hand, saying shortly afterward, "I-I might have one."

Clancy nods signalling for him to speak, "We could pretend to sneak out the window, then hide in the bathroom."

While I am first skeptical at the plan, a glance at one of the windows shows that it leads to a more secluded part of the garden.

Clancy, however, has doubts, "How do we know they won't search the bathroom?"

Aurora speaks up in Ray's defense, commenting, "I-it does sound like it could work."

I speak up now also, "And you always have the rule, of something like, if you give someone a solution to a problem, they won't go searching for another one."

No one talks.

Feeling like we are running out of time, I speak up again, "I… Uh... Well… They are coming," I stammer gesturing towards the door, "If no one else has a better plan, let's do Ray's."

Despite not liking the plan, Clancy nods in agreement, and after a little scuffle, we all go our own ways, to do our own thing. Ray escorts his mother to the bathroom, I grab the two assault rifles, and head to the bathroom and Clancy heads to the window to open it up.

I hold the door open a tad bit while I watch him open the window… only for him to realize that there is a screen blocking it.

So, with a surprising amount of anger, he punches through the screen and tears it open to the point in which it looks large enough for people to sneak through.

But from out of my view, I hear the bedroom door be barged open, and footsteps enter the room, and from my angle, I am able to see Clancy raise his hands almost immediately. The sound of guns cocking and being aimed directly at Clancy.

Shit.

I briefly consider closing the door, but that would probably just tell the White Fang where I am, so I just wait as Ray comes up next to me, having realized what is going on.

"Where are the rest of you?" I hear a voice come say from around the door.

A brief glance at Clancy tells me that he is unsure about how to answer that, but luckily, or rather, unluckily the same White Fang member asks again, "I'll ask again. Where the fuck, are the rest of you?"

Clancy, in all his valor, manages to say, "They left through the window."

And for a brief second, there is silence, and I think that maybe the White Fang has left, but the same member then says, "Don't bullshit me. Now, I will ask one last time, before I kill you, where in the living fuck, are the rest of you?"

"I told you," Clancy says, his voice stoic as ever, "they left through the window."

 **Bang**

And for a horror filled second, Clancy falls to the ground.

But, before I pass him off as dead, at a slightly closer look, it is revealed that he was only shot in the legs, blood still gushing out in waves.

Ray, either blind to the fact that his father is fine, or uncaring about the White Fang, runs out of the bathroom, screaming, "Dad!"

And before I can do anything else, Aurora runs after him, leaving me by myself, standing the bathroom.

"So predictable," sneers the same voice, this time filled with mirth, "you humans think you are so righteous, that you will give your life for someone else, yet you don't hesitate to send our kind to death."

He lets out a chuckle, as I continue watching Ray and his family, unsure of what to do, "In fact, I should just kill one of you now. Teach you what we have to deal with on a daily basis."

No… he wouldn't actually kill him, right? I mean, shooting him is one thing, killing is another. Yeah, he's just bluffing, trying to get something out, maybe…

 **Click**

That's… a gun cocking.

 **Bang**

And before I know what I'm doing, I'm barging out of the bathroom, and into the bedroom, and just in time, as right as I reach in between Ray and the White Fang member, the White Fang member shoots, while a few bullets do pass by me, three bounce off my aura, and fly into a nearby wall.

"Another one, eh?" the White Fang member, which I now stare directly at, says, chuckling shortly afterwards.

However, his enjoyment turns to confusion when he notices my faunus features, all the while I stand here, trying to keep my composure, while three White Fang members, including the previously stated one, aims their gun at me.

"What happened now?" a new voice says, from behind the White Fang members.

The leading White Fang member turns around, and steps to the side a second later, revealing a new and much more imposing figure.

A huntsmen.

He wears long and decorated robes that intercross on his chest, giving a thick and protective look, the colors of red and black very prominent colors on his clothing. He wears the signature White Fang mask, which covers most of his face, the most revealing aspect of him being the two wolf ears on top of his head.

Another wolf faunus.

At the very same time, the, by far most imposing part of him are his weapons. In each hand he carries two greatswords, each one longer than I am tall, and each one bulky enough to the point in which each one probably weighs two times his weight.

One of the swords he rests on his shoulders, the other one held at his waist and angled downwards, only inches above the floor, giving him a very relaxed and easy going look.

Yet intuition tells me he could easily kill me in a good second.

He gives one good look at me and says, "Hmph. I didn't think we'd find another faunus here," he turns to me and asks, "What are you doing here?"

It takes a good second to figure out he's talking to me, "I… uh…"

"Take deep breaths, I'm on your side here," the unnamed huntsmen says, his voice kind and soothing, which in turn only causes me to shake my head in confusion.

"I… I was hanging out with my friend," I respond, my mouth feeling extremely dry.

"How long have you known each other," he asks.

"A… uh," I stammer a bit, "A couple days."

He looks at me for a good second, while I remain rooted to the spot, my legs feeling like lead, "And, if you don't mind me asking, of course," he questions, "do you know what job his father does?"

I merely shake my head in response.

"He works for the Schnee Dust company," he spits, his voice now filled with venom and anger, "people who practically enslave us for cheap labor. People who treat us worth than the dirt under their feet."

He takes a deep breath, calming down slightly, "Do you want to associate yourself with those who see us as nothing more than animals?"

"Caerus…" Ray starts saying from behind me.

The huntsman, however, interrupts him, "This is not for _you_ to decide. If you care any bit about your friend, you will let him make this decision by himself."

I open my mouth up, but nothing comes have been horror stories of what the Schnee Dust company has down the faunus, and whether or not they were actually true or just horrible exaggerations is hard to tell… But I mean they can't be true… right?

"I understand this is not an easy thing for you to realize," the huntsman says, "I won't hold your answer against you."

"I… I don't know," I barely stumble out.

"An understandable response," he says.

He walks up to me, rests his weapons on the ground, and gets on one knee to look me right in the eye, "I was in your position once, I had to choose between everything I had known, and the White Fang, and I promise you, while it may seem like like a unconquerable obstacle, joining the White Fang might change you for the better."

He takes off his mask, revealing a young and stern, yet caring face, "Life may not be the easiest for you, but I promise, it doesn't have to be this way, we can change our future, you don't have to be afraid anymore."

He rests his hand on my shoulder, "we will care for you."

But, instead of compassion, I only feel the opposite effect, I feel passionate resistance, angry at him for causing what happened tonight, angry at him for trying to manipulate me, angry at him for everything that has gone wrong.

I yank my shoulder back, and glare at him slightly, "No, no, no, no, no," I say to myself, "I won't do that. I will _not_ harm other people."

The huntsman opens his mouth, slightly miffed at my response, but, luckily for me, he is interrupted by the distant sounds of sirens.

Recognizing a chance to escape this situation, I visibly charge up a bolt in my left hand letting the electricity dance around my fingers, pushing back away from the unnamed huntsmen and standing right beside Ray and his family, trying to delay for the police to arrive.

The huntsmen only sighs, however, as he grabs both of his swords, hefts them up with a grunt, and looks at me, "I only hope that you keep what I said in mind."

And with that… he literally disappears out of sight, leaving me dumbfounded.

I literally can't really explain how he disappeared, it's almost like he was never there, to begin with, but at the same time I know he was there, it's like for a split second I couldn't see everything, but then I can, only to realize he was gone. Like I had been distracted for a brief second, in which he used to disappear.

A hand rests on my shoulder.

Too exhausted to even respond at this point, I turn my head around to look, only to meet Ray's eyes.

"Caerus…" he starts, "are you okay?"

I shake my head, letting my shoulder slump down, and letting out all the pent up stress I had in one single long deep sigh.

"I don't know," I merely respond.

* * *

So we now sit outside the house, in the frigid night, the moon shining violently upon us, all while the police inspect Ray's house.

After a brief scuffle, the police determined that Ray and his family lived there and that I was visiting for the night. Although there was an event with a dick police officer, who thought I was part of the White Fang.

So now we just wait as the police search through the house, waiting for the time in which we can possibly leave.

Apparently only one of the three members I subdued was found, the rest having mysteriously disappeared, the only signs of them ever being there… being signs that they were there.

Still… things could've gone better, Clancy was shipped off to the nearest hospital, having suffered a couple gunshots, Aurora is currently shivering violently, although she is watching over Ray and me, Ray is currently sitting next to me, staring into the night sky, his face blank, and I just sit here, watching police officers rife through the house, as people watch from other houses, trying to figure out what happened.

After what I've just been through, I'm perfectly happy just sitting here without the chance of having my head removed every passing second.

But the more and more I think of it, the more and more I realize something. I was facing White Fang grunts, not the kind of people who are trained huntsmen, or even trained soldiers, but literally people who were picked up off the street and handed a gun.

Even then, if anything else had happened, I would've died… against an untrained soldier handed and assault rifle.

And not only that, the entire time I was there, I was terrified and practically barely able to fight. If anyone had been more skilled, I could've easily died.

Now, I know this is basically the statement of literally every single character to ever exist in RWBY, but if I am going to accomplish anything, I'm going to need to practice more, it's quite evident that while my training sessions with Jae are helping, in some ways there are more I need to do.

The world isn't going to wait for me to grow up, I need to meet it face on.

* * *

 **The Next Day**

"Hey!" Jae says running up to me, as I make my way back to the orphanage, "where the hell was you?"

"Just doing my normal stuff," I say sardonically, "You know, hanging out at the police station."

Jae lets out a laugh and jokingly says, "Did they catch you doing drugs?"

Too exhausted to even pretend to laugh, I just sigh in response, shaking my head, trying to kick out the stray memories from last night.

"Shit," Jae responds, "you weren't joking. What happened?"

I let out a deep breath, stopping my aggressive pacing and looking Jae into the eyes, "You know how I was hanging out with that one friend yesterday?"

"Yeah," Jae says in confirmation.

"Well," I exasperate, "apparently his father works for the Schnee Dust company, and the White Fang decided to come along their merry way and attack us with fucking assault rifles, and fucking try to kill me."

"Did you get shot," Jae asks, his jovial demeanor now replaced with a concerned one.

"I _literally_ just said they tried to kill me," I continue, slightly tired at him not listening "but no, I wasn't injured"

Jae pauses for a second fidgeting awkwardly for a second, and just as I'm about to tell him to say what he is going to say, he asks, "do you know what the White Fang were trying to do?"

"I don't know," I mutter, "either kill Ray's family or capture them."

"So you were there," Jae mutters to himself.

I raise an eyebrow lazily, "You know what happened?" I ask.

Jae takes a deep breath, "Do you really not know?" Jae asks me.

I pause for a good second, and raise my eyebrow even higher, "not know what?"

"Last night," Jae starts, "there was a massive planned attack against many important members of companies who are known for their anti-faunus mantras, and lo' and behold, they were all attacked by the…"

"White Fang," I say completing his sentence.

"Exactly," Jae confirms. He stares at me for a second, then asks, "Not only that, but they captured many people, and are holding them for ransom, all the while blaming the Atlas Police force for their incompetence."

He takes a deep breath, "Do you really think it was the White Fang? I mean, they are just a non-violent protest group, it seems kind of extreme for them to do an 180 all the sudden."

I shrug, "I know what I saw, it was the White Fang," I say without any chance of dissonance.

"Sure," Jae responds nonchalantly, "whatever you says goes. But really, Caerus, what the hell happened?"

I sigh, realizing I might have been a little harsh, "Jae, that's the second time in my life in which I could've easily been killed, and both times I survived due to sheer luck. Eventually my luck will run out, and I will die."

Jae laughs a bit, "Caerus, you're fucking kidding me right?"

I stare at him blankly.

"You do realize it is only your first year at Mountain Academy," he continues, "give it time, you're only being taught the basics of fighting. It will take time, in the meantime I'm here to help you. Hell, if you come up to me and say that you're joining the White Fang, I'll go right along with you."

I smile a bit, "You're an idiot, you know that?"

"Well screw you too," he jokingly replies, "anyways, Caerus, on a bit more serious note, you do realize that I'm here for you, right?"

"Yeah," I nod, "of course."

"Good," he replies a large grin on his face, "Now that we got that out of the way… guess who just got accepted to Shade Academy!"

* * *

 **So this chapter kinda happened… At first, I was just planning this to be more development of Ray as a character, and while that did work at first, I found it quite boring, so I thought what would spice things up a little… then this happened, and not only that, but this took so long to write, as it went through, something like 5 iterations, all with their own distinct differences.**

 **Anyways, weapon submissions are still up, I guess. I honestly don't know how much longer they'll be up, because I was originally going to introduce his weapon this chapter, so meh.**

 **Also, with these AN's at the end, what do you want me to do with these? Do you wanna have me keep this kind of update stuff, do you want me to respond to reviews, do you wanna have me do the thing in which I have the character's break the fourth wall and have a little chat in here? If you do review, leave me some suggestions, because I'm always up for them.**

 **And on that note, in terms of chapter length, do you want me to keep this length of about 4,000-6,000 word chapter, or do you guys want to have me make chapters longer or shorter?**

 **Side Note! Holy mother of sweet muffin pancakes, we reached over 50 followers! Like holy hell! I did not expect those kind of numbers for a while! And especially after my horribly erratic uploading frequency, so, honestly, thank to everyone who has followed!**

 **Thanks to Emiliano733, Bomberguy789, and Keac for the reviews/tips/weaponsubmission.**

 **FYI: Weapon submissions are still up, check chapter 3 for the info.**

 **Fun Fact!: This is my longest chapter, by over 1,000 words.**

 **Till next time.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Last Chapter for Weapon Submissions**

* * *

 **Several Days Later**

"Ray," I mutter gently, as I walk up to the aforementioned person, "how are you doing?"

He turns around from the window he was looking through, and plasters a weak smile on his face, "I'm doing fine, thanks."

It doesn't take a genius to see through his guise. Still, I can't blame him that much, last from what I've heard, he's still living in an apartment in the meantime, while his father is still resting in the hospital, hell he even stayed out of school for almost a week.

"How's your father doing?" I ask, trying to make some small talk, while I rest against the wall.

He shrugs, "He is doing fine. Doctors say he should be out in less than a week now," he mutters going back to staring out the window and into the rainy sky.

I pause for a bit, thinking about what I was going to say, "Have you even eaten yet?" I ask, realizing how it is only the beginning of lunch.

"I'm not hungry," he says shaking his head.

I furrow my brow, "Ray… are you actually fine?" I ask, a more serious tone in my voice.

Ray lets out a large sigh and turns to me with exaggerated movement, "Caerus… listen. This is nice and all, but I don't need you to mother me. I can take care of myself."

I merely stand there for a second, unsure of how to respond to his outburst, "I'm not trying to mother you," I start saying, "I merely care about how you are doing, and as a friend, I'm concerned for how you are."

"No. It's just… uh," he groans, "I… I" He takes a deep breath, "You don't know what I'm going through. While it is really nice of you, I would prefer it if you just leave me alone."

Yeah, that's not going to happen. "Ray," I say a bit more sternly, "I know I'm being an ass by doing this, but pushing people away isn't going to help. I just want you to sit down for a bit and talk with me, trust me, you will feel better."

"No I won't!" he counters, "Everyone just says, 'Oh just talk about it, and it will be fine'. But it doesn't work like that! How does talking fix me almost dying!"

"Ray," I again say, speaking softer this time, "I was there with you. I also almost died. We were both in the same situation. I just want to help you, I would hate myself if I were to do nothing."

Ray finally snaps.

"And that's the point!" he says twisting towards me and jabbing a finger in my face, "You don't even know what I'm going through! You can say there we were in the same situation but you were doing everything, and because I did nothing, my dad is in the hospital, and we almost got killed, all because I am too pitiful to even protect my parents!'

He turns around and runs his hands through his hair violently, "If you weren't there I would either be dead or captured! You don't know what it's like to be me! So stop trying! Just leave me alone because you can't possibly know what I'm going through!"

All I can do is stand there with my mouth agape, having completely unexpected his outburst.

"Ray…" I try to start, but all I can do is stand there, wordless.

"You know what!" Ray says interrupting anything I would say, "maybe my brother is right, maybe you are just a soulless animal!"

And again, I am left speechless. Part of me just wants to walk away, while the other half wants to continue trying to comfort him… but as it seems, he doesn't want that. Why do kids have to be so difficult to deal with?

But when I look at him, I don't see anger, I only see sadness… and regret. He's confused, and his first instinct is just to push me away.

"Ray," I start.

"No," he interrupts, "just leave me alone."

And now I start to get more upset, "For one second, just shut up and listen to me!" I half-shout.

I take a deep breath to calm down a bit, "Wallowing in self-pity will get you nowhere. Some things will happen, yes, and some things may not go the way you want them to go, but in the end, the only way you can continue going is forward."

I stop to let him reply, but he only sits there with his mouth shut so hard to the point in which it looks like it hurts.

"Ray," I start again, "I know I've really only known you for a week at this point but I can already tell that you're a good kid. So, at the very minimum, please listen to what I'm saying. I've messed up too many things in my life, and I just want to get this right."

But all he does is stand there with his mouth shut, and his eyes narrowed at the ground, his fist clenched to the point in which his knuckles are turning white, and if I look closely and listen carefully I can even see tears trickle down his face, and I can, through my faunus ears, hear him sniffle a bit.

And after an elongated half a minute of him just standing there, he finally looks up, and with teary eyes says, "Just leave me alone… I just want time to think."

And then he walks off. For a second I consider walking up to talk to him more, but I end up stopping. I might as well give him time to think.

* * *

I'm having another one of those 'dreams'.

One of those 'dreams' meaning one of those times where I wake up in a completely different area… but this time, I'm in the blood-red forest, and the mountain is right behind me, and well it is my second one of these 'dreams' so I can't exactly say they are a common occurrence.

But still, it seems just like how I remember it, blood red trees, dark red ground, gentle wind, leaves blowing past me, some distant hills, rocks, and branches on the ground, ominous aura pretty much everywhere.

And even the Grimm dragon.

Albeit, it is flying around in the far distance, to the point in which I can easily block it out with my pinky finger, but nonetheless, it is still there, but unlike last time, I don't feel afraid. Maybe it is just how far away it is but at the same time… maybe I've just grown.

But now there is a new addition, as in front of me there is a field, a field with no trees, just rolling hills. But the hills… they just seem dead, there's already no life on them, but they just seem devoid of anything. No grass on the hills, no flowers, just gray dirt.

Yet, there's a building in a distance, barely visible and obviously dilapidated, yet in the distance, peeking out from over some hills, stands a building, reaching into the sky.

Parts of it have fallen off, with visible chunks of it missing, yet despite what I would think, it still stands mighty and tall, going off into space.

And unable to resist my curiosity, I slowly start making my way towards said building, my lazy walk turning into a slow jog.

Slowly the area around from turns from the red forest to the dead hills, and yet then, the building still seems ever far away, as I start to realize that the building is a lot further than I thought it was.

Yet bit by bit, it creeps up, until it reaches up into the sky, from behind a large hill, which is a lot harder to climb up than I thought it would be.

Nonetheless, once I climb the hill, I am greeted by a new sight, to what I once thought was a lone building, turns out to be a small city, all built by the seemingly same gray material, all with unusual architecture full of curves and odd shapes.

Yet the building I had to seem from the distance, it is absolutely massive, reaching up to the sky and even beyond that, but what is most interesting, is that the sky seems to distort around it like it is somehow altering reality around it.

Part of me tells me this is a good way to die, exploring strange ruins with a Grimm Dragon in the distance, yet another part of me is too intrigued to leave. That part wants to strip away everything in the city and find out its little secrets.

So I awkwardly stumble my way down the hill heading towards the large spire-esque building. Part of me says that the other buildings probably have something of interest, yet it makes sense for the largest and most imposing building to have the most interesting thing because literally every fictional story ever.

And as I come up to it, I spot a large entrance, quite unlike anything I've ever seen before. While I would expect some large doorway, instead there is a large circular metal sheet in the way, yet as I approach it, it folds up upon itself, opening up to allow me to see the insides.

And the inside… it looks very barren. A large empty plaza with an unrecognizable insignia on the ground, with the occasional pillar rising up to the heavens, several parts of the chunks missing, along with parts of the wall. In actuality, it is quite dark, and if it weren't for missing chunks of the wall, which allow light to filter through, it would probably be pitch black. Yet luckily enough, with the little light there is, and with my faunus enhanced vision, I can see clearly enough.

Yet, right in the middle, on a human sized pedestal sits an orb. It looks to be black, yet on the inside seems to be some swirling liquid of varying colors, giving it almost a rainbow, liquid-esque look to it. Still, even despite the fact it isn't giving off any visible light, it almost feels like it is glowing unexplainably, almost like there is something it is emitting. Something… ominous.

And, while part of me tells me to go examine it, another, more sane part, tells me to get the fuck out of there, because this is literally how every and anyone has ever died.

So, ignoring the strange aura, I flip back around and start walking out, deciding not to risk any chance of death. Deciding that I'd rather just explore somewhere else, or find my way back to reality.

Yet, I hear a cracking, something which sends shivers down my spine, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the origin of the cracking is originating from the orb.

But the cracking… it just feels wrong, inhumane almost, like horrifying. Like someone just cracked glass that is holding me 10,000 feet in the air. Like my body knows I'm about to die.

My body tells me to run off, but I remain rooted to the ground, while the cracking continued. So slowly, and unsurely I turn around. And just as I do, it detonates, sending an unholy aura over everything and anything.

A wave of dark green, and imposing light flies over everything, including me. Yet, what I would think to just be energy literally sends me flying back and into a nearby pillar, my back sending pain throughout my entire body, making me wonder if I broke it.

I could say there was some last thing I saw before I passed out, but like someone flipping off a light switch, everything went dark instantly.

* * *

 **The Next Day**

I rub my hands through my hair once again, as I grumble at the computer screen angrily, upset at the lack of results I've gotten.

I partially want to scream out in frustration, but since I'm in a library, it sounds like a good way to get kicked out, hence my angry muttering.

"Hey Caerus," Ray says walking up to me, "Uh… sorry about how I acted yesterday… like really, I feel like a horrible person… and, uh, I understand if you don't want to be my friend… but, uh, I just wanna say I'm sorry."

I turn to him, and blink a couple times, "Okay. Yeah…" I mutter, half-asleep, rubbing my eyes, "Sorry, I slept horribly last night, and…" I briefly consider telling him what happened, "I've just been having some bad dreams."

"Oh," he says, "Do you want me to go… uh, do you want me to leave you alone."

I shake my head, "Nah," I say half paying attention, "I'm just kinda out of it at the moment."

"Here," I mutter pulling up a chair next to me, "anything you wanna talk about?"

"Uh," he again stutters, "like I said I just wanna say I'm sorry. Besides that, everything is going kinda okay. We were just given the okay to head back home, and my dad should be out of the hospital soon."

"That's good to hear," I respond, yawning shortly afterward.

For a brief second, there is silence, which I take to go back to the computer to continue my search. "What are you looking at?" Ray asks, looking over my shoulder.

Oh yeah. He's right there. We both take a second to look at the query in the search bar, 'Abandoned City & Orb'.

I'm tired shut up.

"Just…" I shake my head, "I don't know, just some weird hunches."

He looks at the screen his eyes narrowing a bit, "Hey," he says after a couple seconds, "Mind if I take a look."

I scoot to the side saying, "Sure, go ahead."

He scoots up and starts typing on the search bar saying, "I remember my dad once talking about some weird ruins they found Mistral. And… uh… I don't know, it just sounds familiar."

He types in 'Schnee Dust Company Mistral Ruins' pressing enter.

After a brief pause the results come up, clicking on the images tab I am greeted with the sight of several excavation pictures, it's kinda hard to tell what's going on due to the contrast of the lighting they use compared to the darkness of the underground ruins, but after a good second I can confirm that those are the same architecture.

"Ah," Ray says as I look at the pictures, "They found these about a year ago, all I really knew is that they think it is just some tomb they didn't know of before hand."

I scoot over and grab the mouse, clicking back to the results tab, and click on the first link. 'Kael Tombs - An Ancient History Encyclopedia', reading briefly over the article.

Apparently, it was named after the area it was found, the Kael Hills and Ray are pretty much correct in what he said, after a short excavation with several people being brought in, it was just deemed as some sort of previously unknown tomb.

I grab the mouse and type in 'Kael Tombs' into the search bar.

"You find something?" Ray asks watching my progress.

I nod for a second, saying shortly afterward, "I think so."

I look at the results. All the same thing, apparently it wasn't that big of a deal. I mean, it was apparently news for a couple days, then it died off and everyone forgot about it.

I search, 'Kael Tombs Architecture'.

Here's something. Some paper by a kid in college which goes over how the architecture is unique compared to anything previously. I would probably read it if it weren't about 20 pages long.

I hit 'Ctrl-F' and search 'Similarities'.

Nothing

'Examples'

Nothing

'Previously'

Something, but nothing helpful.

'City'

Nope.

'Abandoned'

Zippo

Uh… 'Tower'

Nada

…

'Orb'

Two results. Ray and I both lean in to look at the paragraph. 'One common element in the architecture was a certain **orb**. It was only referenced to in engravings, making it quite hard to discern what use it had, causing several wild speculations to what purpose it may have had, ranging from a chunk of condensed dust, to merely an object of religious significance, but nonetheless due to its repeated use in the engravings, it has been dubbed the 'Kael **Orb** ' until we find any more information on it'.

"I never heard of that," Ray says from next to me, "Hmm… have you heard of this before?" He asks me.

"Kinda," I respond, not paying much attention to what he is saying.

I search 'Kael Orb'.

Just the same paper, and a couple other articles which state the exact same thing.

 **Brrring**

The bell went off.

God damn it.

"Well," Ray says standing up, "I'm going to head to class. See you later."

I wave goodbye saying, "Later," absentmindedly.

I rub my hands through my hair as I groan, leaning back on the chair. So close, yet so far.

It's just… ah fuck. I felt like I was actually getting somewhere, to figuring out what the hell happened last night.

…

Hmph. I may have just had an idea.

I quickly type in another search entry into the keyboard, bringing up the picture of the orb, zooming in quite a bit I notice little details carved into the stone, possibly due to erosion, but something that looks a bit too similar to just be a coincidence.

Putting that on half the screen I pull up another tab and pull up an image of a simulation if Remnant's moon were to be rebuilt and looking over it… they look almost exactly the same.

Of course not the coloring, but if I look at each and every detail, the shading, the depth, they are all the same.

I… I may have just found a lead.

* * *

"How you doin' Caerus?" Jae asks walking up to me as I lie down on my bed.

I would respond, but I'm still too confused. So I just lie down on my bed and groan angrily.

"Well then," he responds, walking up to me, "do I have to kill someone?"

I groan again.

"Did… someone kill you?" he asks.

I groan again.

"Are you just bitter that I'm leaving for Shade academy?" he asks a bit more seriously.

I finally respond, "No… I've just had a long day. Didn't sleep well. And, uh," I just stop there sitting up.

Jae takes one good look at me, "By Oum, you look like a panda with those bags under your eyes. What's goin' on?"

I groan once more, thinking about how much I should share with him, "Have you ever had a dream, that seems a bit too real to be a dream?" I ask.

He stares at me for a good second, "You're fucking insane aren't you?" he jokes.

I flop back on my bed.

"Okay, okay," he mutters, "Let's say I have. Let's say that somehow I am some weird ass hippy, and I think my dreams are some prophecy. So what you tryin' say here?"

I look at the bunk above me, "I just had a really weird dream last night, and maybe I am just going insane, but it felt too lucid to be just a dream, and I think there may be something behind it…" I pause for a good second thinking about what I'm saying, "I am going insane aren't I?"

"We wouldn't be friends if we weren't," Jae responds a large grin on his face.

I sit up and look at him, "Just humor your crazy friend for a second," I pause for a second to phrase what I'm going to say, "Uh… let's pretend you are given the opportunity that may or not make a big difference in the future. Now, you're unsure if this 'opportunity' is true or just you being overly superstitious. What would you do?"

He crosses his arms and stares at me, "Sounds simple enough. Like, really. If you want my honest to heart answer, I would pursue it. If your so called, 'opportunity' turns out to be true, then congrats you just accomplished something, if not, then the only thing you lose is some of your time… and a bit of my trust in your sanity."

I laugh a bit at that.

"But really," Jae continues, "Why you asking me this? Is there something important going on?"

And with that, I freeze. I mean I've known Jae for almost 7 years at this point. Can I trust him with this information, the information I've held close to my heart for basically my entire new life. I mean, he's very nice, and…

"Caerus," he says now concerned, "you trust me. Right?"

"Of course I do," I respond adamantly, "... It's just…" I pause for a second and take a deep breath, "Yes, there is something that's going on. And I do want to tell you…"

"Are you in danger?" Jae asks now concerned.

"Not really," I respond shaking my head limply, "Just…" I run my hands through my hair and over my eyes, "I really do want to tell you. It's just something I've kept secret for so long. I hope you understand if I'm reluctant."

He nods slowly, "Caerus if there is one thing I ever want you to know, it's that I'm here for you. Hell, even if you become a serial killer I will be here for you, I'll maybe slap some sense into you, but I'm still here for you. And while it does hurt a bit that you don't trust me enough to tell me your secret I do understand, and I do hope that eventually, you'll trust me enough."

I smile and let out a sigh, "Thanks."

I flop on my back and laugh at the absurdity of the situation, "Okay, well I'm just gonna go to sleep now. Wake me up when I'm dead," I say after a large yawn.

"Caerus," Jae says, still a bit emotional, "It's not even 9 yet."

I angle myself and pull the sheets over my body, turning myself to look away from him, "I didn't ask for your opinion."

For a short second I can hear him thinking of interrupting me, but after a short bit, he walks out the room, closing the door behind him.

When he does I twist back around and look at the door he just walked out. I may regret ever being reborn, but at least I have him.

* * *

 **So here's my attempt at a shorter chapter. I tried to get this one out faster, although I did run into some roadblocks. What do you guys think of this chapter though? Good? Bad? Meh? Should I stick with long chapters that take longer to get out or what?**

 **I'm going to respond to DamascusVazarin, who's asking for a Penny romance, as I imagine pairings are going to be a moderately big question on some people's mind. Long story short: I'm undecided at the moment. I can say right now, at the very minimum you might have some softer moments with some characters, however, I'm not sure about full off romance, although I imagine it is something I will try to accomplish some point in the future.**

 **Thanks to: DamascusVazarin, Killer-Kog, Emiliano733, Bomberguy789, Dragenn332, and an unnamed Guest for their review/tips/suggestions/questions.**

 **Till Next Time**


	7. Chapter 7

**Weapon submissions are over. Thanks to everyone who submitted!**

* * *

 **Age 14**

I absentmindedly toy with the bronze ring Jae had given me all these years ago, as I wait for school to actually start.

On that note, I briefly glance up at the clock. 2 minutes to go.

I lean back at my chair, and rub my eyes, trying to shake out the tiredness that still lingers. Freaking classes 8 in the morning. Why can't they delay it an hour or something? Gives us time to, you know, not suffer.

Nonetheless, despite my mental objections, kids start piling into the classroom, until it's full of about 20 or so kids.

My first period teacher, Mr. Leeves, walks up to the front of the room and holds out a paper in front of the room, after some cordial greetings, "So, today is the day you will start to work on your weapon," he says reading off the paper, "yadda, yadda, yadda," he continues as the kids now lean forward in anticipation.

"In the next span of several weeks you will work on designs with your teachers, and find out which kind of weapon bests suits you," he pauses and skims over the paper a bit more, "Today we will just discuss the basics of designing a weapon, what is realistic and practical, and where you should start. But you must know, you won't actually start designing your weapon for a good couple days from now."

He then sighs and flips through the rest of the packet and I can tell that he is lightly reading everything, "And something about how this is a momentous undertaking, which will probably take another 5 minutes to read, which I'm guessing none of us actually want to hear."

He looks up and scans the classroom to confirm his belief, "Good. But, before we actually start, I'm going to give some of my 'Leeves Life Lessons'," he says as he mentions his dubbed name for lectures, "As much as you are excited for this, you do have to understand, this isn't as easy as the TV shows makes it out to be. You most likely won't have some epiphany, it will be a slow and gradual process, that might actually end up with several kids finding out that the huntsmen life isn't for them."

He takes a breath, as he starts pacing around the room, each and every kid following him with their eyes, "But don't let that discourage you, you should be happy that you made it this far, and excited about the future that lays ahead. Now, let's stop moping around like some bumbling idiots, and get to work!"

* * *

 **Some Point Later**

"Now," Mr. Leeves says, as he turns off the lights and turns on the projector, "one of the benefits of living in Atlas is the fact that many of our weapons are very technologically advanced, with high funding in order to create and maintain them."

He pauses as we look at a simple graph of the funding towards Atlesian hunters compared to the other kingdoms, "This doesn't mean that you can create a fully functional mech suit, believe me. I tried."

He shakes his head, "But, still, feel free to go nuts with your weapon, we will probably be able to figure it out somehow."

* * *

 **Some Point Even Later**

Mr. Leeves walks into the room this time a short woman in a white coat, and her brown hair in a bun, following right behind him, "Today, we are doing aptitude tests."

Half of the kids look at him confused, "That basically means that we are going to test how proficient you are with various weapons."

Some kids still stare confused, in which he sighs, "You will take a test to see how skilled you are at different things."

The confused stares disappear, "Okay?" he continues, "Good. Now don't be afraid if you fail, because you will. Especially you _Hunter_ ," he teases.

"But back to the point at hand," he says waving a hand with a smile, "you will do better at some things than other, this is merely to see where you are in skill relative to other kids, to help you create your weapon. Simple enough? Good."

* * *

 **Some Point Late Enough That The Person Creating This Quit, And We Had To Hire A New One**

I could write a book on designing a weapon at this point. Problem is, most of it would be negative.

Still, I'm going to save you the trouble of reading my plight, and instead, give you the main points. First off, I'm sorry, but I can't wield scythes, my fighting style and proficiency just doesn't allow for it, as cool as it would be. Second, I'm about as creative as an illiterate blind person. At least in weapons. I keep on trying to modify existing weapons into something of my own, and it isn't working out all that well.

But, I have some good things running for me. I'm one of those kids that are good at a lot, amazing at a little, giving me quite a bit of option to work on. Also, due to the offensive nature of my semblance, I don't have to create an offensive weapon in order to counterbalance what would be a lack of offense.

And all this came together into a beautiful painting of migraines, crumpled papers, and empty caffeine drinks.

"What have you been working on," Mr. Leeves says walking up to me.

I look down at the paper and shake my head, "Just some spear-esque, polearm-esque, long-range pokey-esque weapon, that looks like someone tried to turn a turd into a weapon."

He picks up the piece of paper as I rest my head on the cold hard wood of the desk, hoping it will push out my headache "Well, we can agree on something then," Mr. Leeves says having looked at the paper.

I merely groan as I sit here face down on the desk, "Any wisdom of the old you can depart upon this lost soul? Because I could seriously use it," I groan, twisting my head to the side, to stare up at him.

He scratches the bit of stubble he has on his chin, as he thinks a bit, "On the aptitude test, what did you get ranked highest in?"

"I got S-rank in Semblance Usage, and Hand Firearms, A-rank in Rifles, Broadswords, and Spears," I reply with my face still on the desk.

"Well," he continues, "what do you like using the most."

I sit up a bit, still keeping a slouched posture as my faunus ears droop downwards, "I generally used my semblance a lot, although I do kinda like using rifles" I respond.

"Choose one," he responds.

"Well, then my semblance."

"In that case, that means you use a hand, right?" he asks.

"Yeah," I nod, unsure of where he is going this.

"Well," he continues nodding a bit, "what would you put on your hand?"

"Uh…" I stammer unsure of how to respond to this question.

After a good several second he continues, "There's no wrong answer, I'm just asking. What is something you would hold on or put in your hand?"

"A… uh," I stammer a bit, "a chicken wing?"

He frowns jokingly, "Try again."

"A… glove?" I ask.

"Good," he responds, "a glove, now make a weapon out of a glove," he finishes walking off to another kid who is raising their hand, not giving me the chance to ask a question.

Oh?

* * *

 **Almost A Month Later**

Upwards of 100 kids sit in the auditorium every one of them bubbling to the chin with excitement at the idea of finally starting the creation of their weapon, conversations filling the air like a thick fog, an expectant feeling hovering over in the air.

Looking up on the podium I see 5 people sitting down on chairs, they all look like your average huntsmen adult, although one is sitting in front of everyone else, giving the obvious impression that somehow he is more important than the others.

And honestly… my first impression is that he reminds me a Qrow. Slacking a bit, small patches of stubble on his face, black hair that looks like it hasn't seen a brush in a year, eyes which say that he'd rather be sleeping than be here, and the fact that he half-glares at every kid who looks in his direction, which includes me.

Well, I'm looking away from him.

Still, for a while nothing happens, as kids continually filter into the room, each one of them finding their own place to sit down and talk.

But, after a good 2 more minutes, Stehlen Frost walks up onto the podium and taps the mic once, before saying, "Greetings. Today is the day in which you will start designing your weapon. This is a momentous undertaking, and all of you should remember this as one of the defining moments of when you become a huntsmen."

She adjusts her stance slightly and continues, "At Mountain Academy, we tend to prefer if your choices were to be refined, and more streamlined. So, as result, we have acquired Senior Weapon Designers and Repairmen from Atlas Academy, which we have assembled behind me."

She pauses for a second, "Now, I introduce to you Jager Blackwall, head of weapon design and repair at Atlas Academy."

And with that, she turns and walks off to the side, as the aforementioned Jager practically stumbles up to microphone, fiddling with it for a second before taking it out of the stand, all the while kids clap, out of common courtesy "Okay," he starts, "listen up. I don't want to repeat myself. Now, I am the Head of Weapon Design and Repair at Atlas Academy, this means that I know a goddamn lot. Which means, if I have an idea, which you don't like, try not to throw a hissy fit and push your own god damn idea."

He takes a second to let that settle in, "That means you will _not_ have a greatsword that acts as an orbital laser or have a miniature nuke launcher, and yes those are all ideas that I have heard before."

A pause to let every kid hear that, "On that note, creating your weapon takes time. It will not happen overnight! That is why this will take the next two months of your life. Do not come whining to be about how long it is taking!"

He takes a deep breath, "Now they want me to give some speech about how important this is, so I'll do just that. So listen up, because this is the most important thing you are going to learn while at Mountain Academy. Your weapon is who you are. Without a weapon, a huntsman is nothing. So for Oum's sake, take care of your weapon. You don't know how many kids come to me saying their weapon is broken because they were too lazy to actually take care of the god damn thing."

He sighs, having riled himself up with his speech, "I know I'm not the nicest person, hell I'm actually quite a horrible person. But hear me out for a second, I'm doing this because I do care for you all. I want you to have a weapon, that when time comes, will save your life. So please, for the love of god, listen to me."

He takes a deep breath, "Anyways, I'll take kids with a first name starting from A through E. This kind man behind me," he says gesturing to the man of the far left of the group, "will take kids from F through J, she," he says gesturing to the next person, "will take K through O, she, will take P through T, and last and certainly least, he," he said gesturing to the last person, "will take U through Z."

He takes a breath, "Any questions?"

Three kids raise their hands.

"Good," he says, "so no questions."

* * *

So it's been something like two hours, or so.

The first half hour was spent watching kids walk in and out, each kid with varying expressions on the way out. Until I finally felt like I would either have to claw my eyes out or risk chronic insanity.

Next half hour was spent fiddling with my hands and trying to entertain me with completely random stuff, like a potted plant which is in one of the corners.

And the next hour was me giving up and going onto my scroll to dick around, because at that point I had decided that I wasn't going anytime soon, seeing that they had just started the 'B's', and I was, quite obviously, in the 'C' category.

I mean, not much has really happened in the first place, after he finished his speech, they walked into their own individual room, and every once in awhile you would hear someone be called to go and help design their weapon…

"Caerus Ferrum," the headmistress says from the podium, eyeing me slightly, "Head to room 202."

Surprised, I get up, slightly too giddily, and start walking my way towards the said room.

Getting to the doorway, I cautiously open the door and step inside, and my impressions are that Jager is as tired, if not more tired than me. He sits there impatiently tapping his foot, as he slouches, and rubs his eyes, all the while just giving off an aura of just being plain exhausted.

As I walk in he says, "What's up, uhhh," he looks at a computer next to him which seems to have my info, "Caerus. Ferrum."

He then mutters under his breath, "What kind of parents name their child that."

"Uh," I stammer a bit, having heard that due to my faunus enhanced senses, "I'm an orphan."

"Well shit," he says obviously surprised, "sorry 'bout that," he pauses for a second, "but come on, we're wasting daylight."

I pull up a chair and sit next to him, pulling off my backpack and putting it next to the chair.

"So what you got?" he says as I pull out some sketches from my backpack.

"Uh," I start, "I was thinking about some sort of gauntlet type weapon. I ranked highest in Semblance Usage, and lighter weapons, so I thought that maybe a gauntlet weapon would be useful, since it is both lights, and would allow me to use my semblance."

I obviously didn't say that I stole a bit of my idea from Jae's weapon.

He humms a bit and says, "Give me a sec," he twists around and types on the computer nearby, glancing over his shoulder, I can see that he is pulling up some more info on me.

"So," he asks, still facing the computer, "your semblance is lightning?"

"Yes," I merely respond.

"Elaborate," he says turning around to me.

"Well, uh, I can channel lighting into my hands and discharge it, into the form of a lightning bolt," I respond.

"So you can discharge through gloves, and/or metal?" he then asks.

"Yes."

He then continues, "How do you generally use your semblance in fights?"

"Uh," I stammer a bit trying to guess what he means, "I generally just dodge around my opponent, and try to hit them with my semblance once I think it will hit."

"So you generally use it from range then," he concludes.

"Yes."

"Okay," he pulls out a paper from his desk and grabs a pencil starting a rough sketch, "then you don't want bladed gauntlets," he says drawing a different style of gauntlet, "the problem with those is that you have to get very close to use them properly, and from what I heard, if you do that, you'll get turned into shredded cheese."

He continues drawing for a good second, "The idea of a gauntlet that is able to channel your semblance though is a smart idea, but the weapon type completely contradicts your fighting style."

For a good couple of seconds he then just continues drawing, which leads me to ask, "What do you have in mind then?"

He continues for a second before asking, "The idea with gauntlets, something most people don't realize, is that you have two general forms. Either adding to your fists, like blades, or some sort of cycling mechanism, being some sort of ammunition, or some grenade-like explosive."

He then takes a second to glance at my aptitude test again, "Seeing that you got ranked S in handguns, I'm assuming you'd prefer that, right?"

"Yes, I would," I respond.

"Okay then," he continues, "In that case, I would say that we should go with a wrist mounted ranged weapon…"

He pauses for a second, and taps the pencil on the paper, "You know what, hold this for me."

He hands he a thin rod of some metal, and pulls out some other device that looks quite like a voltmeter, and attaches it to the rod, "Now I want you to electrically charge up the rod… Can you do that?"

I nod, and focus my attention on my hand, lending it some energy as it starts to become charged up.

"Good," Jager says looking at the voltmeter, "Now just throw it somewhere gently. Not at me though."

I gently toss it onto a nearby desk.

He stares at the voltmeter for a second, and then, seemingly satisfied with his conclusions goes and picks up the metal rod, "So as I thought. It will remain charged for a short period after leaving contact…"

"So that means," he continues, putting the stuff away and going back to the drawing, "You want utility or damage?"

"Uh…" I stammer unsure of what he is asking.

He seems to get the message as he takes a deep sigh and rephrases the question, "I was thinking of either a wrist-mounted crossbow, with variable ammunition, or a wrist-mounted gun, with a bit less variable ammunition."

"I think the wrist-mounted crossbow sounds cool," I say with a small grin.

He frowns, "It's not what sounds cool, it is what you think would be the most useful."

"Oh, uh," I say in reply, "Well, either way, I still think that the crossbow would be the most useful."

"You sure?" he questions, eyeing me with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," I reply, not sounding nearly as confident as I would've liked.

"Very well," he says, going back to putting all his attention on the drawing.

And for a couple minutes, we remain silent as he continues drawing several sketches, all from different angles, labeling each part, and adding other symbols in order to make it as defined as possible.

"Okay," he says shaking his arm and leaning back, "let's recap what we have so far. We have a wrist-mounted crossbow, with variable ammunition, some of which will be able to channel your semblance. Okay?"

"Okay," I say.

"Good, now I was thinking, that for the material we should probably make the majority of it out of titanium. For the variable ammunition system, I was either thinking we could go with some manual reloading system, or we could go with an automated system," he continues showing me different sketches for an automated and manual system.

"I think an automated system would be good," I respond.

"Good," he continues, "so that… wait… hold up a second…" he pauses and looks off into the distance in thought, "can you channel lighting from lightning dust?"

"Yes," I respond holding up the ring that Jae gave to me several years ago, "this ring has a bit of lightning dust infused in it."

"Shit," he says a bit more excited than I thought he would be, "that means we could pump the gauntlet full of lightning dust, both as the power source, and to help your semblance."

He takes a second to grin, "Shit, even I'm getting a bit excited now."

"Anyways," he comments, going back to the paper, "I think that is the majority of the important topics… maybe… yeah."

He then pulls out another sheet of paper, "That only covers one hand, however, and you could have one gauntlet on both hands, but that is kinda redundant and stupid, so I was thinking," he says looking back at my info, "since you got rated well in broadswords," he draws a bit, "that we could have a long sword in your other hand, for close range encounters. You okay with that?"

I pause for a bit, staring at the design.

"Do you not like it?" he then asks.

"I don't know," I respond shaking my head, "it just doesn't seem to fit."

"What," he says with a both jokingly and slightly insulted tone, "does a sword seem too basic for you, too simple?"

I shake my head fervently in response, "No… maybe… yeah, kinda."

He lets out a deep sigh, "Yes. It is very basic, but there's a reason why it still works. While I can't force you too, I'm going to say, you should use a straight sword as your secondary. It's simple, easy to manage, and very effective."

"Fine, fine," I say waving a hand, "I'll try it out."

"Good," he says with a grin, "but… I think that is about everything. Of course, you'll have to iron out several kinks with the weapon and experiment around for a bit, before you finally finish it, but I think that's all we've gotta do today."

I take a second to glance at the sketches.

"So," he continues, "Just take those, and uh, once you finish the weapon, come and show me. I wanna see how this turns out."

I merely grab the papers, shove them in my backpack, turn around and give him a large grin, "of course, and thanks for the help."

He returns that with a nod of the head.

And with that, I walk out of the room, and back the auditorium, my backpack hanging off one shoulder. All the while feeling a bit enlightened, and a bit happier.

* * *

 **We reached 100 followers! Woooooooooo! Now, as per the usual, I really wanna thank you guys, as in just 6 chapters, we were able to reach this milestone. Now, I do wanna do something extra, probably an extra scene, but I'm unsure of what if it would be if I would even do so, so what ideas do you guys have?**

 **Anyways, thanks to FierySprites for winning the arbitrary award of being my 100th follower.**

 **Also, there was an overwhelming consensus, (Overwhelming being one person), saying that I should stick with this chapter length, so from henceforth, it's going to be this long.**

 **Now, as I stated, I couldn't get everyone's weapon idea into this, and I'm extremely sorry that I was unable to. However, I did get some amazing ideas, that did help me lead to how I'm developing the weapon, so even if your weapon isn't referenced to, it probably did help me in some way.**

 **And per usual, I always feel something is wrong with this chapter, but eh. So just review what you think, I'm always up for suggestion, and I need to become better at taking criticism anyways.**

 **Also, Mr. Leeves is based off one of my teachers… and well, if you go to my school, and you had him, you'll know it's him, by some subtle clues I gave. Curious to see if anyone will recognize him.**

 **Anyways, Till Next Time.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sup**

* * *

Aaaaaand, I'm back in the weird ass nether realm.

You know, the one that looks like the literal interpretation of a Tim Burton drawing.

I suppose I'm slightly bitter about being here again, mostly because the two times I've been here, I've almost died due to some malevolent force trying to kill me.

Uh, still though, I feel like absolute crap.

I suppose I could be less comfortable, since I awoke in those rolling fields, lying on my back, staring up in the sky. But then again the air around me feels like it is choking me, as if it is overly humid.

And I was content to just lying here until whatever sent me here sends me back, but eventually my back aches too much, and my mind starts to feel like it is deteriorating, so I get up and look around.

The first thing I see is the tower, which actually… appears… fine… with… people.

What?

The building is fine. And, now if I look closer, I can see people walking around the previously dilapidated city.

As in, I see _people_ walking around. You know, like _people_. As in _people_. Meaning humans!

The fuck?

And now that I think of it, the Grimm Dragon is gone, and the mountain looks fine, if not a bit more vibrant.

Did I just travel back in time?

I glance back at the city, and I still see people wandering around, some with purpose, others with just a casual stroll to them.

Okay… so… that's a thing.

I mean, they look like normal people, hell they are practically wearing the same thing people wear in Atlas, I mean, there's no cars, but it still just looks normal… if not kinda dead. I can even see a couple faunus if I look closely.

So… do I just look around the city, and try to find out what the hell is going on?

Eh, why not. Exploring places I shouldn't seems to be the only way I can get things done, and the more this happens, the less I'm starting to care.

So, I stumble my way down the hill, caring more about not tripping than the encroaching city, once I get to the bottom of the hill I brush myself off and start walking into the city, hoping I look inconspicuous enough to not draw attention.

And from what I can guess, that's true, some people spare me a glance, with varying emotions, others just brush past me as if I was always here.

I mean, I don't exactly look like I'm going to conquer the world anytime soon, hell I'm still practically a kid.

So, uh, why not go to where the orb was?

And with that thought, I start making my way towards the extremely large tower, which still sits at the center of the city. The streets are crowded enough to not allow me to run, but empty enough to not have me bump into a random passerby every other second, creating a hectic yet clean feel to this city.

Speaking of the city, it does just feel more alive. I don't know if it was ignorance, or just it not existing, but the buildings have personality, hell they are still a dull gray color, but they have signs, windows, varied doorways, some have shops built into them, others have some sort of electronic light up device in the front.

The street feels more filled, even beyond the people roaming it, you have lampposts, some mailboxes, benches, trash cans, still no cars though.

I look up, now having to crane my neck at an uncomfortable angle to see the top of the tower. I'm getting closer.

And sure enough, the slightly narrow street opens up to a large roundabout, with the enormously and imposing building in the center, and now that I look at it, my plan to find the orb, may be a bit more difficult.

Two guards stand outside the doorway I had traveled through last time, both of them wearing some medieval like armor, and a halberd/assault rifle weapon in both hands. And looking at the fact that there isn't really any commerce into or out of the building, either it is part of your average life here, or it just isn't something everyone goes into.

Fuck. There goes my plan of doing anything here. So, I guess my plan now is to sit around and wait for me to teleport back, or something along those lines.

So, uh, does this place have any restaurants, or coffee shops or something?

Because I'm not in the mood to sit down and just wait for…

 **Boooom**

What the…

I flip back around and face the tower, only to see one part of it fall to the ground, a large chunk of it now missing.

I glance around me, and it seems I'm not the only person seeing this, as people start to come out from the streets and watch, seemingly trying to figure out what is happening.

I glance at the entrance, just in time to see the two soldiers run inside, the large circular door opening just enough to allow me to see inside.

And what I see, I wouldn't say it is unsettling, but unnerving.

I do see the orb, but along with it is an exotic robed man, with long cloths trailing beyond his feet, holding onto it, with easily 20 soldiers all aiming their rifles at him, with two other, slightly less decorated, people seeming to talk to him.

But the clothed man… his movements seem jerky, unnatural, and when he twitches his head around I manage to get a glance at his face, it just seems empty and pale. Not malevolent, or evil, but just empty. And at this moment, I almost wished I saw evil. Evil, I know what to do with evil, but this man… he's just empty.

The man takes a couple steps back, clutching the orb protectively to his chest, while the two other men seem to try to negotiate with him.

They must have said something wrong, as with a snarl, the robed man twists around and bends over, still clutching the orb to his chest.

For a brief second all the soldiers around him open fire, littering him with bullets, but either he doesn't care, or he is unfazed, and he remains crouched there.

And then… the orb just releases a wave… of something.

It seems too slow to be an explosion, with my eyes able to track it easily, yet too fast to really react. It almost looks like an expanding green disc, with tendrils of energy bending off of it, the very earth shaking under me.

I hold my arms up to my face, a flimsy attempt to protect myself.

And when the wave crosses over me, for a brief second my mind goes blank. It's hard to describe, it's almost like the moment when you wake up from a deep sleep, and you're unaware if you just slept or not.

Because all the sudden my bones ached, and my skin felt cracked and dry, my mouth feeling void of any water, and my muscles feeling sore to the very air.

It takes me several seconds to regain my sense, and to even find out that I'm lying on the ground, jagged rocks digging into my back.

It takes another couple of seconds to realize my eyes are closed, and that I'm covered in dust. Not the dust that will kill you at the drop of a hat, but the dust that happens from something being still for years.

And despite protests from my body, I slowly lean up, using my right hand to stabilize myself as I use my left hand to wipe away the dust on my face.

I open my eyes, to be greeted with a familiar, yet unsettling sight. I'm inside the tower again, except this time the grandeur from when it was occupied is gone. It is dilapidated, destroyed yet again, pillars gone, and large formations of rocks in seemingly random places.

Yet right in the middle remains the same pedestal, with the exact same orb as before.

* * *

"Have you finished yet?" Ray asks from right next to me, yawning shortly afterwards.

To that response I quickly check the time, 9:43. I should probably head back to the orphanage soon, and go to sleep, "No," I respond rubbing my eyes, "Although we should probably head back soon."

Ray now looks up from the workbench in which he was using, "It was your idea to stay after school and work on our weapons."

I glance at the mangled mess of metal in front of me, "and I'd rather not spend an all nighter finishing my weapon when I still have a week to complete it."

Ray and I weren't necessarily behind, although our weapons were a bit more complex than others, we had just decided that it would be kinda fun to stay after school to continue working on our weapons. And after a bit of talking to the teachers, they eventually let us do it, considering the fact that we're probably the least likely people in the entire school to cause a Thermonuclear Detonation.

"Dude, what are you working on?" Ray asks taking a break from his weapon and walking over to my workbench.

"My firing mechanism," I say prying at a stray piece on my gauntlet, "the auto feeding system jammed again. What about you?"

"I'm trying to fix the pressure system on mine," he says looking over my shoulder and at what I'm doing.

Oh, I forgot to mention. Ray's weapon. It's a flamethrower. Kinda cool actually, a bit like the World War 2 era flamethrower with the backpack and all, except imagine the nozzle part being a bit more complex, with a lot more intricacies.

The transformation, however… Let me just say I called bullshit on him when I first heard it.

Somehow he was given the idea of having the backpack transform into a stand, and the flamethrower transform into an machine gun, with the backpack acting as an automated firing mechanism.

Effectively his backpack and flamethrower turns into an automated turret, while he just switches to a submachine gun on his waist.

And somehow, the pressure on the flamethrower, is what he is having problems with. Ray may be quiet and awkward, but he is surprisingly smart when it comes to weapons.

Wait a second, awkward, and good with weapons...

Oh my god, Ray is the boy version of Ruby… Well, if Ruby was less charismatic, and not as obsessed with weapons, and if she had an inferiority degree, and if she came from a rich background.

You know what? Maybe he isn't as similar is Ruby.

Still, considering the relatively little trouble Ray has been having with his weapon, he's taken it upon himself to help me with mine.

In the meantime, I forcibly try to turn the rotating mechanism on the autofeeder, trying to reset it back to its base position, however, due to luck, of course it gets jammed.

Ray apparently notices and says, "Uh, if you want I can take a look at it."

I'm about to say that I'm okay, however, the metal flies back, and rams into my finger, causing me to back away while I grip my finger.

"Fine," I grimace through gritted teeth, "take a look," all while I crouch over my hand, taking off my glove to see if I took any bad damage.

After determining my finger is fine, I went over to Ray's weapon to take a look at it, and I'm honestly quite impressed. The backpack seems large, but not all that bulky, with all these smooth angles, making it really blend in, in a way, and the weapon… actually looks quite badass. With a cycling nozzle and barrel, and venting for the nozzle I would more expect it to shoot lasers than flame.

"Here," Ray says turning around holding my weapon gingerly, "I think I may have fixed it."

I eye the weapon warily, yet grab it after a second, "Really? What did you do?" I respond.

"I, uh, I removed the ammo from the weapon and just cleaned and oiled the parts," he responds unnecessarily sheepishly.

I nod in confirmation, and walk over to the table and grab two metal bolts which I had been testing as ammunition. I walk over to the opposite side of the room where a firing range lies. I press a button on a screen on a nearby wall and a dummy pops up about 10 feet out.

I then proceed to manually load the two bolts in and adorn the glove on my hand. I flex my fingers a bit too make sure it fits well and so that a stray metal part won't jab me in the hand at random, and with that I aim down the range, holding my hand in a fist and my arm up to my eye, trying to get the best angle.

While the crossbow part would normally be folded up in the gauntlet, since it is still in beta testing, at the moment the crossbow is always unfolded.

I flex my thumb to press the release, and with a satisfying 'thunk' the bolt flies from the crossbow and strikes the dummy right where the stomach would be.

I them manually press a button to signal the reload. Normally this would be automated, but as I said, it's still in beta testing.

And with that the string on the crossbow is automatically pulled back, as the machine cycles in the other bolt I had placed in the ammunition compartment.

After a second of that I aim back down range, hoping that everything went as planned, "You might wanna stand back," I mention to Ray, "Just in case it malfunctions."

I hear him shuffle back a bit, and holding my breath, I fire yet again, hoping it will work.

And finally, much to my satisfaction and joy, the bolt flies out and strikes the dummy right in the middle of the chest.

"Yes!" I shout holding my arms in air in joy, "Finally!"

"Dude, that was cool," Ray says walking up to me.

I slam my gauntleted fist on a button right on the wall next to me, the dummy flying forwards till it is right in front of me. I then use my free hand to grab the bolts where I inspect them for damage.

I let out a satisfied sigh, and turn to Ray, "Do you want to work on your weapon now?" I ask as I walk back to the workbench.

"Nah," Ray replies, "I'm just about done today."

"Okay then," I say grabbing the things on my workbench, "let's pack up and head back home."

And with that, we grab the things we were working on, and walk over to the lockers where we store our weapon.

I rub my hands through my hair once again, taking the moment to yawn, "I'll see you tomorrow," I comment to Ray, as he finishes putting his stuff in the locker.

"Same," he merely replies.

And so we walk off in opposite directions to our own homes, me heading inwards to the center of Atlas while Ray heads off to the outskirts.

* * *

I check the time, yet again. 9:02 P.M.

Jae's late. Well I mean, we didn't exactly plan anything, but if he would be out this late normally then he would probably tell me, and if he didn't then he would send me a message on my scroll.

Now I trust him that he isn't dead… but he can be a bit, stupid, if you will, at times. Stupid in the way of being very headstrong. I suppose I shouldn't be so worried, but you can never tell with Jae, one second he'll be fine, the next he'll be on Atlas' top 10 most wanted list.

And, actually, speak of the devil, here he is.

He walks through the door, and slams it behind him, right off the bat I can tell he is exhausted and tired, "What's up?" I question offhandedly.

He lets out a large sigh and sits on a small wooden chair next to the door, "I fucking hate living in Atlas," he merely replies.

Now this causes me to furrow my brow. Now concerned, I stand up and walk over to him, "What happened?" I ask.

He runs his hands through his hair in frustration, "You know the playground down the road?" He asks, looking up at me from his chair.

"Yeah."

He lets out another sigh, "So after hanging out with some friends, I was walking by there to come back here. And well, fucking hell, these two kids were bullying the shit out of this one faunus kid."

I frown, "Well, damn, guessing you did something."

He shakes his head, "Well I _was_ going to go tell the two kids to fuck off, but then mother of one of the kids walked over. I thought that she would tell the kids to stop being little shits, but noooooo. She starts yelling at the faunus kid. Telling her to fucking stop bothering her kids. Like what the fuck!"

He gets up and starts pacing around now. While I just stand here and watch him.

"I mean," he continues, "I told the mom to go fuck off. And she did, eventually. But fucking hell, I hate living in Atlas, everyone is fucking racist as shit."

I've rarely ever seen Jae ever be this upset, and it almost surprises me.

I flails his arms angrily, "Every, fucking, person is out to get us. We can barely go outside, without some asshole commenting on us. I'm fucking tired of having to deal with this day in and day out."

"Jae," I respond in a much softer and comforting tone, "Yes Atlas isn't perfect, and it is not the best place for us to live in, and it is very cold, and very militarized. Buuut, it is a nice place to live in. I won't deny the fact that we don't exactly have the perfect life, but I won't say that our life is the worst it can be," I pause for a bit and shake my head, "I don't know, I should probably do a better job at comforting you, but, at the very minimum, know that I'm happy to have met you."

For a neck he stands still, then he just cranes his neck at the ceiling and lets out a small laugh, "I was being very angry. Wasn't I?" He asks, still looking at the ceiling.

"Yeaaah," I respond, kinda jokingly.

"Ah, what the hell," Jae says once again, "I should probably calm down. Ah, fucking hell though, some people can be real dicks."

"I agree with you on that," I respond going back to sit on my bed.

"Yeah," he sighs letting his shoulders slump and going back to lean against a wall, "I'm not sure anymore."

He shakes his head a bit, while I just sit here and contemplate. Kinda hard to believe that Jae is 17. Hell, before he would have just been angry for the next day and a half, but now, he kind of seems all grown up now. Although of course, he's still the hotheaded idiot I've come to know and love, but it's almost kind of hard to believe that we are growing up so fast.

"Anyways," Jae says, "You up for some late-night shenanigans?"

I go to grab my jacket, "Of course I am."

* * *

The excitement of finally finishing your weapon would be more exciting, if it weren't for a grade.

'Oh cool, you finished your weapon, now show it off if you want to live.'

I mean hell, give us some time to enjoy it, play around with it, I don't know. Hell let us just rest for a bit, we spent several months building it. Just give us a break.

Eh, whatever, not much I can really do about it, and it's not like they are having you dissect the weapon, it's just them making sure you actually made a fully functional weapon.

Although, they could at least do it in a more fun manner, than having kids, one at a time, come up to show their weapons, while the rest just sit in a room and wait.

"Did you hear," a kid says walking out of the testing room, talking to one of his friends, "General Ironwood is watching us!"

Wait… what?

"No shit!" the other kid says, "Please don't tell me you acted like an idiot in front of him."

Now curious, I feel the need to ask some more questions. So naturally I walk up to them and ask, "Wait, James Ironwood is in there?" I ask, motioning to the door leading to the testing room.

"Yeah!" the kid who exited responds, "Isn't that so cool!"

I raise my eyebrows, "Any reason you think he's in there?"

The kid shakes his head, "I don't know. Maybe just to spot out the girls."

"We're 14," I deadpan.

The kid shrugs, "Who says a man can't dream."

I sigh jokingly, "Really though, are you sure it was him."

"Name one other person who has a metal arm," the kid merely replies.

"Fair enough," I respond, "but don't you think he would be busy or something?"

The kid shakes his head, "I don't know why you are asking me, I'm just as surprised as you are."

"You could've had some clue," I continue pushing.

"I don't know," he comments offhandedly, "he's with other people, maybe he's coming to examine our weapons or something. He is head of Atlas Academy."

The loudspeakers turn on for a second interrupting us from our conversation, "Caerus Ferrum, please report to training room B."

"Ah damn. Well, that's me," I respond going to pick up my backpack which contains my weapon.

"Good luck!" the kid I was talking to yells, to which I say, "Thanks," waving my hand at them.

I walk to the designated door, all the while my stomach churns at the thought of presenting to General Ironwood.

While I don't exactly look up to him, he's practically a legend, and, I don't know. After he visited me in the hospital all those years ago, I almost feel like I have some expectation to live up to.

That's of course if he even remembers me.

Soon enough the door approaches me, and after taking a deep breath, I open it up, immediately scanning around to see if I can see him…

Oh. My. God. He is right there. In the back, with some other people, watching me, with his ever emotionless expression.

I fumble around as I put my backpack next to the door and pull out my weapon, taking a second to appreciate them. The gauntlet has long come from the mangled mess of internal wiring and shifting parts, now looking like a cohesive gauntlet. Of course due to the bulky nature, it does look out a place on my forearm, with most of the mass being there, yet since most of the mechanism is inside, and under a blue metal plating I had put on, it does flow cohesively. Although there is a bit on the top, which juts out, which is of course where the crossbow comes out.

The sword is a bit less unique, folding in on itself and going into the hold, allowing it to be easily stored and retracted, but beyond that it really doesn't do much.

With the little extra time I've had, I've colored them both a slightly darkish blue color, mainly due to the fact it is the color of my lightning, and it's the color which is quickly becoming my signature color.

Beyond my self-narcissism, I put the gauntlet on my left hand and the straight sword on my waist, setting my backpack to the side.

I walk up to the firing range, where a teacher I don't recognize stands.

"Caerus Ferrum?" she asks, as I walk up.

"Uh, yeah," I cough, "That's me."

She lets out a small smile, hopefully understanding my awkwardness, "What's your weapon?" she then questions.

"Uh," I stammer for a second, "A wrist mounted crossbow with variable ammunition, and just a normal straight sword."

"Acronym," she then asks, continuing the stream of questions, "and definition."

"Uh, WMMC, which, uh, stands for 'Wrist Mounted Multipurpose Crossbow', and uh, you know, a straight sword," I reply stumbling horribly over my words.

"This is more just for statistics, but have you named your weapon? This one is just optional, for your information," she continues on.

"Uh," I say thinking, "I've been thinking of some. Romulus and Remus, Geminae Fulgur, and, uh, Per Spatium."

"Okay," she says flipping through a couple pages before going back to the top one, "now, you said that you have variable ammunition for the crossbow, describe the ones you have."

"Well then," I start gaining my composer, "the most used one is just a metal rod, made of a steel alloy, which can transmit my semblance, which is lightning, I have the most of these" I take the second to take a breath, "The second one is a, uh, explosive arrow, filled with fire dust and a combustible compound which burns oxygen, designed to explode on contact. So, uh, basically a explosive bolt that burns air for a bit," I rack my mind for what comes next, "third, is, uh, a shaped charge round, mainly designed for armor piercing," I continue now, a bit more confident, "and fourth, and last, is a smoke grenade, which detonates a couple seconds after impact."

For a good second the teacher writes all the while nodding, "Very good," she then comments offhandedly, "could you demonstrate them on the firing range?"

"Of course," I reply, a bit too hurriedly.

She steps to the side while holding the clipboard as I walk up to the firing range, finding the dummy down the range.

I know they aren't grading for proficiency with the weapon, but I can't help but to feel pressured.

After gaining my senses I turn to her, mentally asking if I have the go ahead, to which she nods in reply.

I briefly unfold the weapon, the crossbow coming out of the bit that juts on the top, with several extremely satisfying 'clicks' and 'snaps'.

I make sure that it is in the correct mode, and hold up my gauntlet, aiming down the range. Holding my breath, I then focus on the gauntlet, letting a bit of my semblance and the internal battery charge up the bolt with electricity. After a second of that, I release my breath while firing the bolt.

It sails through the air, hitting the dummy in the shoulder, with a 'thunk', some of the electricity visibly dissipating outwards.

"Very good," the teacher comments from behind me, a second later saying, "next arrow."

I nod, and flick my wrist, the internal mechanism changing the ammunition to the next bolt.

I repeat the same aiming process, firing the second bolt, which hits right above the stomach, shattering on impact. With a satisfying, 'fwoosh' the immediate area around it is engulfed in fire, burning the the dummy slightly.

I turn around to look at the teacher, who comments, "Impressive. Next arrow."

"Uh," I respond offhandedly, "Is there any armor or anything I could use to demonstrate the armor piercing qualities of the shaped charge."

For a second she stares, and then nods, tapping the screen right next to her, the dummy down range, switching for a partially armored one, with a steel plate on the chest.

Looking back at her, she again nods, giving me the go ahead.

I, yet again, repeat the firing procedure. But this time, the arrow grips onto it, for a brief second doing nothing, except sticking onto the armor, before exploding inwards, carving a moderately wide hole in the armor.

"And last arrow," the teacher then says.

Nodding, I flick my wrist yet again, and fire down range. The arrow imbeds itself right below the hole that was made, a second later releasing the smoke, with a 'hissing' sound.

The teacher nods in approval as I walk away from the firing range, "Very impressive I'll say."

I then comment offhandedly, "I still have the straight sword, want me to demonstrate that?"

She furrows her brow, to which I pull it off my waist with my right hand. Extending it outwards, in several repeating 'shinks'.

"Is that all it does?" she then asks.

I merely nod.

"Then I don't think you really need to show it," she replies waving her hand, "Your gauntlet is already impressive enough."

I then bite my lip, "so, uh, is that it?" I question.

"I think so," she responds flipping through the packet on her clipboard, "Yes. You are free to go. Pleasure meeting you Caerus."

"Likewise," I reply walking over to my backpack to store the weapon.

After putting it away, I take one second to look back at General Ironwood, having almost forgotten that he was here. Slightly disappointingly, he isn't looking in my direction, although I feel happy with how I demonstrated my weapon, despite my horrible awkwardness.

And when I leave the room, I let out a large sigh and run my hands through my hair and over my faunus ears.

That was…

Fucking awesome!

* * *

 **I should be studying for finals.**

 **Eh, who does that anyways! (Please help me I'm gonna die).**

 **This one was slightly rushed because I wanted to get it out of the way before finals. So, uh, it isn't my best work, and to make things work, the program I usually use to check spelling and grammar isn't working at the moment. So, uh, that also happened.**

 **Anyways, I don't think I actually have all that much to say. Besides one main note. To 'blazaboi' who said that I chose a crossbow yet him being proficient in handguns. Yeeaah.**

 **To me, I was gonna put Crossbows, and Handguns under the same category, but I couldn't find a name that really fit both of them under a single title that made sense, so just imagine that crossbow is a subcategory under 'Hand Firearms'.**

 **And to 'General zod' who asked if Caerus can use his semblance to increase his speed. Maybe. I have some plans for how his semblance will evolve in the future, but I'm not completely sure to how many, and what things, so at the moment. Maybe.**

 **Beyond that, I'm practically done with everything I've had planned for Mountain Academy. So I might have 1 or 2 more chapters before we move on to the next part (Which is most likely going to be Atlas Academy. 10 points to cliche storytelling)**

 **Anyways, review!**

 **Till Next Time**


	9. Chapter 9

**Age 14**

So… this is it.

Jae's heading off to Shade Academy in Vacuo. I can't exactly say I'm not happy for him, because hell, he's been excited for this for the past half a year… but I can't exactly say I kinda wish he wouldn't go.

I've dealt with goodbyes before, I mean, I did leave for college in my previous life. I'm not exactly foreign to this idea, but it doesn't make it any happier either.

Still, it's not exactly like he is leaving right now, he's leaving the next morning at 4 A.M. to head to Vacuo, but considering the fact that I'll be half dead asleep when that happens, we decided to get the heavy stuff over right now, the night before. I mean, like really, he's already packed up, he's dressed in what he will leave in, and it isn't hard to believe that he could just leave right now.

Maybe, I should just be happy, I mean it's not like he's going off to war, although it does feel a hell lot like it. In actuality, he's really just going off to effectively a really good college.

I think I'm just overthinking this…

"So…" I stutter, "Goodbye?... I guess."

Jae lets out a hearty laugh, "You don't need to be so awkward."

"I know," I mutter rubbing the back of my neck, "but what am I supposed to say? Bye, hope you don't get slaughtered, or emotionally traumatized?"

"Well," Jae continues with a smile large on his face, "you could start off with good luck."

"Good luck," I echo.

"And that you are happy for me," he continues.

"And that I'm happy for you," I mimic.

"And that I'm definitely better than you," he finishes.

"And that you're... What?" I repeat, figuring out what he was saying half way through.

He lets out another laugh, "But seriously, I have a scroll, you have a scroll. Unless you suddenly become 100 years old and inept at using technology we can communicate."

"True, I guess," I respond still solemn, "but then again, it isn't exactly the same thing."

"I guess that's true," he says shrugging, "but I'll have time to visit, and I really doubt some distance is going to kill our friendship."

"Well, I doubt much of anything could kill the friendship at this point," I reply.

"I can probably think of one," Jae now comments with a large grin.

I look at him ready for what he is going to say, "hit me."

His grin grows a bit larger, if that was even possible, as he says, "So, imagine a girl, with really god damn big tits. Like ones that take up most of her body mass, and she's like," he switches to his best female impersonation, " _Oooh Caerus, you're so hot and sexy. I just need you!_ " he switches back, "Now imagine if you had to choose between me and Big-Tits-McGee. You could choose her, right?"

I stare at him as I raise an eyebrow, "You're a goddamn idiot aren't you?"

"But you didn't say no to my question, did you?" he continues pressing.

"If you are so pestering, then no, I would not choose 'G _ig-Tits-McGee_ '. I'm not that kind of person," I respond, a bit harsher than I intended.

"Jeez," Jae replies rolling his eyes, "didn't think you'd get this defensive."

"Yeah," I reply a bit more upbeat, "maybe I'm just being a bit of a downer. It's just that… eh, goodbyes are hard."

"Yeah," Jae says exasperated, "but you do realize that I will come to visit you though. It's not exactly like I'm heading off to another planet."

I look at the ground in thought, "Yeah, but… you are leaving for a while…" I mutter aimlessly, "and…"

Wait. Now that I think of it. He's kind of leaving, and now I'm thinking of the secret. My secret of being from another universe/dimension. Should I tell him before he leaves?

"Are you okay?" Jae asks, my silence now making itself known.

"Yeah…" I mutter not thinking. But really now, should I?

I should. I shouldn't. I should. I shouldn't.

I should.

"Jae," I say wringing my hands and not knowing how to phrase this, "You know the secret I've mentioned that I had."

"Of course," he says, "the secret that you've kept under better watch than General Ironwood's home."

"That one... " I mutter, still thinking how to say this.

I take another deep breath, "Jae. I want to preface this by saying I'm really sorry for not telling this to you before."

"Caerus," Jae responds in a calm tone, "Calm the hell down. I'm not going to lynch you for keeping a secret from me."

"Thanks," I respond as I start pacing around the room, still unsure of what to say.

I run my hands through my hair violently I as rack my brain for what to say, "I… uh…" I gasp, "Just… what…"

"Use your words Caerus," Jae teases.

"You know what. Fuck it," I say deciding to throw thinking of a plan out the window, "You ever heard of the reincarnation theory."

"Of course," he says, a bit slower than usual.

I lean over a chair as I look right at him, "What if I were to tell you that, in some manner, reincarnation was possible."

His eyebrows furrow, "What... " he mutters to himself, "are you trying to tell me… is this some sort of a joke?"

"I wish it was," I respond quietly, "I'm not joking when I say this. But, by some completely random manner. I somehow was reincarnated."

"What. The. Fuck," Jae whispers, blinking rapidly, all the while staring past me, seemingly deep in thought.

"I… I'm not sure either," I continue looking right at Jae, "I… I'm still kind of not sure about the details of it."

"Wait," Jae now says holding a hand out, "So… You're trying to tell me that, by some complete bullshit reason, you lived some life before this?"

I nod in response.

He continues, "And that you've been reborn, as the Caerus I know know?"

I nod again.

He takes a breath and continues yet again, "And that you've kept all your memories from your past life?"

Another nod.

He mouths ' _What the Fuck_ ' off into space.

"Okay… So?" he says his eyebrows still furrowed, "did you live this same life? Or did you live some different life?"

"I… uh. I lived in a different life," I respond shaking my head, "Actually, the weird part is that I lived in a completely different world."

"Wait… Wait… Wait…" he says now seemingly even more confused, "hold the fuck up. So… now only did you get reincarnated, but you are from a different world. So… you're basically an alien?"

"I guess?" I pondered.

"Wait. So is the world you came from similar, is it Remnant? Or is it like some hellish landscape? Or did you come from a place in between?" he now asks a bit more excited.

"Uh," I say giving some time for me to think, "It's not Remnant exactly, but it looks similar. But there are a lot of differences."

"So… like what?" Jae continues asking after a short break.

"Well, uh. You have no Grimm. No aura. No semblances. No dust. No broken moon. No a lot of things," I respond, counting each thing on my fingers.

"So there basically was no war?" Jae continues.

"Oh, hell no," I respond wide-eyed, "well. I mean, it was a bit less violent. But there was practically constant war somewhere, and... " I pause for a second, "You know the Great War?"

"Of course," Jae replies.

"Well, we had two of those," I say a bit sheepishly.

"Damn, so you had Great War 1 and 2?" Jae then asks.

"Well yeah, but we called them World War 1 and 2 because… well, you know. For obvious reasons. Although I think the first one was called the Great War… well back when there was only one," I reply.

"But," he then asks, "if you had no dust then how did war even happen. Did Y'all fight with sticks and wooden clubs?"

I shrug, "We were a lot more technologically oriented. Hell, at this point we had explored the solar system with man-made drones. And, well, our weapons had gotten quite goddamn deadly."

"Like how deadly?" Jae continues.

I take a deep breath, "Like able to destroy an entire city with a single bomb deadly."

He lets out a whistle, "Damn, that's deadly… But, you said something about space travel, how the hell did you guys accomplish that?"

I again shrug, "Well we pumped a rocket with a hell of a lot of fuel, and launched it into orbit. But, again, I'm not exactly an astrophysicist, so I don't know the complexities behind it.

Jae stares off into the distance in thought, "So… let me get this straight, you came from an alternate world, where there is no Grimm, Dust, and Aura, yet one that has explored space, and one that seems to be more violent. Anything else?"

"We had no faunus," I finished.

"Okay… so…" he pauses yet again, "Wait, so how the hell did you exist?"

"I… was just, uh, a regular human," I reply.

He pauses for a second, "So you were just a human?" he then asks.

"Yep," I reply.

"So then becoming a faunus must have been really weird, right?" he blurted.

"Eh," I sighed, "it was. But you have to consider the fact that I was reincarnated. I had a lot more to deal with."

"But I mean," he pushes, "you must have had to deal with it at some point."

"I mean, yeah," I thought, "but, I don't know. It isn't as big as a transition as you would think it would be."

"But you've at least had some trouble dealing with our, ten times more badass world. Right?" he questions.

"Well… yeah… but..." I faltered, unsure of what to say half way through.

I should probably tell him about RWBY, as in the anime.

I mean I already told him about me being reincarnated. I might just go the extra mile.

"Well," I start," the thing is. And this is where it gets really weird. So, back where I came from, there was an internet show, that I watched called RWBY. As i and Y. And yes that's a team name. So, it followed the adventures of a huntsmen named Ruby Rose, who attended Beacon Academy in Vale, and the adventures she went through."

He scrunches his eyes, "but you said…" he hesitated, "weren't you from another… but then that would mean… Wait. So you're telling me that you had an internet show about our world?"

"That's the gist of it," I finish.

"Wait… so," he stumbles, "does that mean you know the future? Or is this something that happened in the past I don't know about?"

"From what I can tell, and I'm 99% positive I'm sure on this. This happens in the future," I state.

He raises and eyebrow and inquires, "How do you know that?"

"Uhh," I stumble for a second, "wait… you know Weiss Schnee?"

"Yeah."

"She's the W in team RWBY," I finish.

"I don't see…" he pauses for a second, "Ohhhh. I see what you mean. That's cool."

"Wait," he continues, "That's… that's actually really fucking cool like you know the future. Do you have any other powers or things like that?" he starts questioning.

"No… well except if you don't count auras and semblances," I replied shaking my head, still a bit sheepish.

Jae looks at me, "Why were you so afraid of telling me this? I mean, hell this is really fucking cool. It's not exactly something that would make me hate you."

"I… uh… I don't know," I reply shaking my head yet again, "It's just kind of something you feel like it is too personal to tell someone. And then after you get to know them well enough you feel like it would only harm your relationship to tell someone."

"Hell, I've known you for practically known you for all my life," Jae continues, "I don't see why I would be upset at you. I mean, yeah, you did keep this from me, but it is a big secret."

He takes a breath and shakes his head, "Caerus. If anything that's really fucking cool. If I haven't said that enough already."

I let out a chuckle, "I guess it is kinda cool. But uh… You know what. Fuck it, I'm an idiot aren't I?"

"You're a lovable idiot," Jae responds lovingly.

"And just like that, the feeling's over," I deadpan.

"Ayyy!" Jae now shouts, "There's the Caerus I know! No more of this sad bs!"

And like that, I smile. Despite the cold Atlas night, despite the fact that my best friend, a man who is practically a brother, is leaving, despite the troubles of the world, and the future that I will have to deal with, I could almost feel at home, happy with the world around me.

So in response, I let out a laugh, one of just relief, one almost out of place in the moment, yet one completely fitting.

My best friend may be leaving, yet life will still go on.

* * *

"Now," says the Professor of Battle Arts, "as many of you have most likely heard, today we are going to be fighting Grimm."

Several of the kids start murmuring excitedly, as the teacher just stands there and waits for us to shut up.

"This is in an isolated environment with Grimm we have captured, and we have taken the necessary precautions to make sure that there will be no injuries," the teacher continues.

"Nonetheless, if you are to get under 30% of your maximum aura, then we will immediately pull you out, no questions asked," he says letting the gravity of the statement settle, "this will be for a grade, meaning that this is a test of proficiency. I expect that you will put forth your best effort."

"As such, to eliminate any discrepancies and differences, you all will be fighting a Beowolf of about the similar age. We have determined the age so that it should be a challenge without posing a serious risk, be warned, however, this is a serious situation, and any frivolous actions will be punished," he drawles on as if we haven't been listening.

How long will this go on?

He takes a breath, while he lets the kids process the information, "You will have access to any tools you have learned and or have created to this point, meaning you will be able to use your weapons and your semblance if you will."

He then eggs on, "As such, you are also expected to use any training you have built up or acquired to this point. Meaning tactics, fighting styles, and techniques, as we will be watching for and grading accordingly."

Is he done yet?

He looks down at his scroll seemingly as to check some checklist, "Before we start, however, we have to state some basic rules of the arena, as to ensure the best results."

Oh. My. God. Kill me now.

* * *

 **Later**

So, it's my turn.

I won't lie if I say I'm nervous. As expressed by my constant checking of my weapons, and me nervously pacing around where I am supposed to stand, watching every little angle in the room as if it has the intent to kill me.

I can't exactly say I've had the best experiences with Beowolves, as my last encounter was in the forest when I was 7, you know, where I almost fucking died.

I doubt I exactly have PTSD, I more feel like some bad memories are resurfacing, with me just feeling very uncomfortable at the feeling of fighting one.

But I can't help but feel exhilarated at the prospect.

I check my scroll which is attached to the underside of my gauntlet one last time, making sure that everything is working correctly.

Once that is done with I look up the viewing post, give a thumbs up and yell, "I'm ready!"

I can see someone nod from up there, and he pushes some kind of lever forwards, the arena I'm in immediately doused in red light as alarms blare, signaling the release of a Beowolf.

A large metal door opposite from me rises from the ground ever so slow, white lights illuminating the cargo that was behind the doorway.

And my stomach drops at the sight, as this time I am fully able to examine it.

The anime doesn't quite do the Beowolf justice, as while the 4th season does further exemplify the terror that it encapsulates there is still something further unnerving about it.

The bones that stick out seem sharpened to the point of being able to pierce literally everything, the red eyes seem to leave a trail and seem able to pierce through even the red light dousing the arena, it's fur seems bristled to the point of being able to penetrate anything.

And… from the time I've lived in Remnant the Beowolf has almost adopted a larger definition than just what it is, it has almost adopted the moniker of representing everything bad in Remnant.

And it stands right in front of me.

 _It_ raises it's head, and sniffs around, all the while I slowly check the ammunition on my gauntlet.

After a second of sniffing it lays it eyes on me, and for a second we remain deadlocked on that pose, but then, seemingly unexpectedly, it charged forth at me, with an inhuman growl.

And like that, the fight has begun.

Instincts taking over, I immediately fire an electrically charged bolt at it, leaping back to gain space.

The bolt strikes it right in the chest, disrupting its movement for a second, as the electricity surges through his body. Which further allows me to switch the ammunition from the electric bolts to the fire bolts.

Before it can completely recover I fire the fire bolt at it, the bolt striking near the original bolt, setting the Beowolf on fire shortly afterward, much to my glee.

And for a second I watch satisfied as it starts writhing in pain, but as it recovers, I start to realize the mistake I just made.

As while I did injure it, I quickly learned that a flaming Beowolf charging at you is definitely more terrifying than a regular Beowolf charging at you. As shown by my totally manly, not feminine scream of terror.

Although just in time, I am able to pull out my straight sword and use the that and the metal on my gauntlet to divert the leap knocking it to the side.

It stumbles for a second, a lot of the fire having gone out, leaving the fur singed and glowing red, and I use its momentary lapse in pain to regain my senses and take another step back.

Deciding to try a different tactic, I again change ammunition back to the regular bolt, firing that with the purpose of stunning it again.

This time instead of using the stun to get away I now charge at it, changing ammunition mid-run, holding my sword out in front of me as protection if it were to somehow recover faster than I expected.

It does recover slightly faster than I expect, swiping at me horizontally to catch me running at it, and instead of deflecting the swipe like I had originally intended to, I instead jump over the arm.

Reaching the Beowolf, I switch to a reverse grip I stab it right in the neck, and then using the sword lodged in its neck as a pivot I swing myself over the Beowolf, almost as if I was rolling over a table, all the while firing the delayed armor piercing explosive mid roll, right into its spine, while I still pull the knife with me as I roll, accomplishing two tasks with one movement. Dragging the sword along its neck, carving a large gash in it, and lodging an explosive bolt right in its spine.

Finishing my roll I pull the sword out while I roll away, my roll finishing right as the bolt explodes on his back, sending bits of black matter towards me, which I block with my arms.

I stand up as it falls to the ground, but much to my surprise it isn't quite dead yet, as it limply tries to stand back up, failing multiple attempts.

Not taking any more chances, I run up and stab it right behind the jaw, where his skull mask doesn't quite cover, finishing off the job.

And once it finally starts dissolving away do I let out a large sigh, as I sheath my sword, the *shink* sound resonating through the arena.

I look at the Beowolf as it dissolves away, and I can only think of one thing. One thing that sums up my experiences with Beowolves from the past, the pain, the emotional trauma, the torture that I went through.

That was exhilarating as _fucking_ hell. Like, holy hell that was fun. I mean, it wasn't all that much fun, because I could've been hurt, but it was… it was really fucking cool. And damn, it's moments like these, like your first legitimate Beowolf kill, do you feel excited as hell.

* * *

 **Age 15**

Jae had left, something like a year ago. I won't lie if I say I haven't gotten used to it.

I've long since accepted that Jae is off to Shade Academy, yet all in all, Atlas just feels less vibrant with him gone.

The spot where he slept has long since been cleaned up and a new kid homed there, a kid that mind you, isn't necessarily bad, but just… unfitting.

I wouldn't say I don't like him, it's just that I can't help but associate the kid with Jae leaving, hence my distaste towards him.

But… I don't know, maybe I should just stop pandering, and truly accept that he's off.

It's just that…

You know what. I'm done with that. Let's move on to other topics.

So what's happened over the last year?

Ray finished his weapon, although he's sitting right in the middle in terms of ranking. I've moved up to the top 10%. Jae joined his team and is having a lot of fun. Apparently, he's the heavy hitter of team JJET. Or just Jet.

What else?...

I haven't been to that dreamscape area since last year because from what I can tell, it is basically random, or something. Which is kind of a shame, as I was slightly interested in finding out what was going on, or at least why everything is so dead.

Eh, maybe I am pandering a bit too much again…

The lights just turned off.

…

And they're back on.

That was weird… like really weird.

I get up off my bed and look around, it isn't raining, and there doesn't seem to be a reason for the power to go out, as I don't hear any other sound.

I look out the window in case someone had driven a car into the power box, only to see that nothing had happened. Everything looks fine outside.

Now, with my curiosity peaked, I walk over to the door and open it and lean out. I look to the right seeing the kids that always play some cards in the hallway at this time of day, "Hey," I half-shout, "Did the power go out for you guys?"

One of the oldest kids looks up and simply replies, "Nope. Why?"

"Did in here," I respond blandly, "thanks."

And with that, I close the door and walk over to my bed.

So… that was weird. An isolated incident of power going out in this room.

I mean, that can't really be a coincidence, well it can. But something had to trigger it. So, what happened before that, could I have somehow triggered it?

I walked into the room, set my backpack on the ground. Walked over to my bed, and started thinking about things… About Jae, Ray, the future, Atlas, and the other dimension…

The lights went out again, this time only for a brief second.

And they're back on.

So… I was in the other dimension.

And it went out again.

And back on.

I'm starting to see a pattern here.

When I think about that alternate universe, or whatever the hell it is, the lights turn off. But the question is why? And what do the lights turning off have to do with anything?

Out of habit I look out the window and glance around in case anyone is watching me, paranoia playing a major hand at my actions here.

Once that's done with I sit back down on my bed and run my hands through my hair.

Maybe… I'm just not seeing something here?

Let's try this again, but better.

So, now I bring up the image of the city in my mind, of the dilapidated tower, and the rolling hills, of the dull colors and the plain architecture, and of the dreaded orb and the monstrous Grimm dragon.

And as guessed, the lights go out, but this time, the more I think of it, the colors in the room, they seem to dull, the temperature goes down a good few degrees, and I start to go get a migraine.

And so I stop, the headache proving enough reason to do so, but my curiosity has only peaked. And as long as this doesn't kill me, or anything around me, I may have just found a lead.

So despite the headache (I can get aspirin later), I think about it again. As I guessed, everything returns, the lights turning off, the dull colors, the colder temperature, and the headache. But I focus on vivid things I do remember.

The carvings on the tower, the swirling colors of the orb, and the rustling leaves of the tree.

And the air around me starts to shimmer, and bit by bit something peels away from in front of me. And ignoring the now, full brewing migraine I'm getting, slowly but surely a portal, if you will, opens up in front of me.

A portal that depicts the nether world.

And with instinct, I reach my hand through, and immediately it is blown by cool and dry air, one that is eerily familiar to that world.

And so I pull my hand back and let my mind relax, and with that the portal collapses as I stare at my hand, recounting the feelings.

I think… I think I may have found a way to enter the alternate world.

Ouch.

And now I have a monstrous headache… I should probably get some water… and some aspirin… and a horse tranquilizer.

* * *

 **I was originally going to have Jae leave be the last part of the chapter. But in the end, I couldn't really find any other scene that would fit, that would make sense and go with the flow, so, uh, here's the thing, with the thing.**

 **Besides that, this chapter was kind of fun writing. Although I'm not sure about the first scene, as while it was fun to write, it seems like it could be tedious reading. So what do Y'all think? And the fight scene… on one side I feel like I don't have enough information, but on the other side, I feel like I'm being a bit too descriptive and complex. What do Y'all think?**

 **Next chapter… Atlas!**

 **Also FanFic has been really buggy recently. So if some parts seem to be cut out. Then message me, because I'm either inept, or something got cut out without me seeing it.**

 **Review! Like! Something! Glorify! Praise! Sanctify! Purge! Cleanse! Eradicate! Enslave! (What?)**

 **Till Next Time**


	10. Chapter 10

**This is the 10th chapter written for this story. And at this arbitrary milestone, I would like to thank everybody who has taken the time to read my story. It means a lot.**

* * *

 **Age 16**

As I walk into the bathroom, I check around the corners to make sure no one is watching. While doing so would probably attract more attention to me, I'm not exactly going to let anyone see what I am about to do.

Once in the restroom I turn on the lights and pull a small package out from my pocket. Two Advil pills.

Heading over to the sink, I quickly down them, shoving the plastic bag which I had used to carry the Advil back into my pocket.

Being left with little to nothing to do, I decided to venture back to the aptly named 'nether realm' to try and figure out what is going on there.

Preparing myself, I walk over to one side of the bathroom, hold out my hand and conjure up an image of the orb from the nether realm, slowly trying to push out any other thoughts in my mind.

In a short period of time, the portal-ish thing opens up, as the lights turn off and the air around me grows colder by the second.

Still holding out my hand, I think about what I am going to do.

I'm going to kill myself, aren't I? I'm heading into some weird alternate dimension, with probably no knowledge of how I'm going to return, with no safety plan, besides bs'ing my way through.

Whatever, I've got to do this eventually, and why not now.

Internally sighing with my choices, I walk through the portal, releasing the image on my mind, and my grasp on the portal, it closing behind me, leaving no trace of its existence besides of a faint zephyr.

I look around me to confirm where I am, only to find out that I'm in the tower, where the Orb sits in the middle of.

To be honest, I don't even know what I want to do here, I just thought I would come here… and do something.

Maybe it would have been a good idea to try to prove some theory I have or something, but I have so little information, to the point I don't really know what I would be trying to prove, hence why I'm here.

I think the one thing I have established at this point, is to stay as far freaking away from the orb as possible.

So, uh, yeah I'm going to walk out of the tower, and then figure out what I'm going to do.

Should have brought a pair of binoculars or something, I could do one of those stake out things that the cops do on TV whenever they are watching a suspected criminal.

Shame that I don't have a car… and that I'm not a cop. Wait, do cops actually do that? Or is that one of the things that TV and Hollywood have created that has no actual base in reality.

Maybe I should come back to reality, and stop rambling inside my head.

So… uh… what next? I… uh… is that writing?

No, like really, there is now what looks like is a plaque right outside the door with some writing all over it.

Was that always there?

No, it couldn't have been there, I'm… I would have seen it… right? Or did I somehow miss it? I wouldn't have. I know I'm not the most observant person, but I'm not stupid enough to miss something like that.

Well, there is not too much use dwelling on it, but really now… I guess all I can do is see what it says.

Hence me walking, or more like crawling, over there, a bit too paranoid for something so simple.

But once I get to reading it… I'm sorely disappointed, almost all the writing I literally can't read, it's just in some language I don't know. And honestly, I doubt this is any Earthen or Remnant language unless it is one of those obscure African languages I haven't heard of.

But no… there's one word I can read… and it's my name.

Carved into the plaque, in some fancy font, and in plain English, is Caerus Ferrum… my name.

But… how…

I mean… this kind of proves that this is a new thing… but now that I think of it.

I run my fingers along the plaque, feeling as dust accumulates along my fingers.

As I thought. It has been here long enough for dust to accumulate all over it. Like a lot of dust, like abandoned cabin in the woods amount of dust. I mean, hell I wouldn't have been able to read it if was just written on the plaque.

But that then raises the question of how long has it been here?

I mean, I think that time is convoluted here, but hell, this thing looks as if it is as old as the city itself, if not older. Maybe this is me being paranoid, but this just seems too… off.

Maybe I should just leave. But this is interesting, as mortifying as it is, because I now have some actual questions, beyond 'what is the orb'.

At the same time that is how literally every side character in every movie/tv show/game has ever died, thought trying to explore things they shouldn't have.

Does that mean I'm a side character? Or am I some sort of protagonist… or am I the antagonist but I just don't realize it? Am I even part of the RWBY story? Did I just accidentally break the fourth wall?

Whoops

But back to the point at hand… should I leave, or should I potentially continue my adventures, with the real possible risk of diving into something I shouldn't.

...

I guess… I'll continue searching, but if I get at any point where I think there is the risk of dying, then I leave.

Actually though, if I am to continue my search, what do I do? I mean it's quite obvious this plaque is for the tower, which quite obviously is meant to house the orb, if not something else… so what do I do?

I've already established that the orb is off limits, so I guess I am going back to the plan of staking out outside the tower and waiting for something to happen.

But now that I think of it, that's not going to work, even if I had the patience to do so, sitting around and waiting literally never works. But that means I have to cause something, but the only thing that I could force to do something is the orb. I guess that means I should some how incite the orb into doing something?

I'm getting dangerously close to being one of those people in a show that gets themselves killed for doing stupid things.

But how would I incite it to do something in the first place?

...

Throw rocks at it?

Eh, sure why not.

I am actually going to get myself killed.

But I think that means my plan is to throw rocks at it, hope something happens, and then hide behind the doorway, and hope the thing that happens doesn't kill me.

So, uh, let's go? Or some other cheesy quote.

I bend down and grab a small stray chunk of rock from the road and walk over to the doorway. Gauging the distance and the arc, I reel my arm back and throw violently to the point in which it hurts my arm.

 **Clunk**

I… uh… I missed. I did hit the ground right next to the orb… but I missed.

Ahem, let's try again.

I grab another rock and repeat the process, this time trying to adjust slightly in order to hit the orb this time.

 **Chink**

Oh shit, I didn't expect myself to actually hit it.

I scramble my way to the doorway and hide against the walls on the side, bracing myself for something to happen.

Yet nothing does.

That's weird.

Ever so carefully I walk out into the doorway as I squint to see inside.

I mean, I can see the two rocks, and I'm sure that the second rock hit… but I don't think it actually did anything, it didn't even scratch the glass on the outside of the orb.

Uh …

...

Oh! Fuck! What the actual fuck!

Like… fuuuuuck!

Oh, my fu-

Like what the hell was that?

Okay, call me crazy, but I swore I just saw someone in the tower. And not like to the side to where I could have accidentally missed it or something, he was right in front of the orb.

Yet what scared me so much, was that he definitely wasn't normal. He wore these tattered and dulled robes, his skin was pale, when it wasn't covered in blood and torn open, and his eyes just seemed empty.

The thing that scared me the most, however, was that I swore I could have heard him say my name.

You know what. I'm done being here for today. Or maybe the year.

I jog a fair distance away and hold out my arm as I conjure up an image of the bathroom in which I used to get here in the first place.

Please for the love of god work, this would not be the good time to figure out that I don't know how to leave.

And much to my relief, the air shimmers as the portal opens up. All the usuals signs of it working returning. The cold air, the lights dimming around me, even the headache, albeit dulled thanks to the painkillers I took.

After a good couple of seconds the portal is large enough for me to squeeze through, which I happily do, if not slightly uncomfortably.

Returning to the bathroom, I sit on the toilet as I run my hands through my hair and over my faunus ears recollecting what had just happened.

That was extremely terrifying and scary, if not interesting at the same time.

Another thing to add to my weird book o' shit that happens in my life.

* * *

 **Age 17**

Well… I found Weiss Schnee… and Winter Schnee.

That's a thing.

But really now, about 10 feet in front of me, they are walking side-by-side having some conversation which I can't exactly hear due to the cars running by and the sound of feet crunching on snow.

Still, I was just heading downtown to go wander around, and they just happened to appear in front of me… thinking of it, I probably look like a stalker now. Especially since I'm practically covered in clothes due to the fact it is dead in the middle of an Atlas winter.

It's not exactly like they aren't gathering attention, though, they are probably one of the most hated people in Atlas, human and faunus alike, and that's bound to gather some attention. But beyond scarce glares, they don't really get any flak. Not that they seem to care in the first place.

I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do now that I'm so close to Weiss, I mean I could and try to say hi, but I doubt she'd have the best reactions, considering the fact I'm a faunus.

There's not exactly much I can do in the first place, they are literally celebrities, albeit not that liked ones, like the Kim Jong Un of celebrities. And even then if I tried to make conversation they are probably skilled in the art of not giving a fuck about anyone, not a certain social status.

I guess all I can really do is ignore them, as there's…

What's that?

Some reflection hit me right in the eye, I look up and on top of a nearby building far ahead I can see a figure, it's kind of hard to tell what they are like due to the sun right behind them, causing them to only be an outline. But all in all, they don't seem to be doing much.

People on top of buildings aren't exactly a common occurrence in Atlas, but it is something you see occasionally, due to all that is going on. Hell, Jae and I commonly hung out on top of the roof in the orphanage.

It just looks unusual.

At this point, I stop moving as I continually watch them, and after what seems to be a quarter of a minute the person finally moves and seems to drop something… in fact several things.

Things that look… like… a… gas grenade.

I like down at the ground to see where it is going to land… and it's going to land right on top of the… Schnee's.

I look back up at the figure on top of the building, and now I am barely able to make out the logo of the White Fang.

"Oh fuck," I mutter.

And for a second the grenade lands right in the middle of the Schnee's, both of them taking a step back, not having expected it before it detonates in a gray cloud.

Immediately all hell breaks loose as people start screaming and running around, several civilians emerging from the smoke coughing violently, and at the same time, I notice White Fang members stream out from alleys and head towards the smoke, while others watch from a distance.

Throwing caution to the wind I go to head into the smoke, hoping to help whoever is in there, but as I approach the edge of the smoke I realize something.

As I near the edge of the smoke, I immediately start breaking out into a coughing fit, as my lungs start hurting as well as my skin and eyes.

That's not smoke… that's tear gas.

They are using tear gas against Weiss and Winter Schnee. One of which is 15 years old. Mother of fuck.

So, uh, what can I do now, I mean all I am doing is just standing at the edge of the smoke looking inwards trying to figure out what to do.

Hell, even I could enter, I know there's easily 20 White Fang members watching from different locations.

Speaking of White Fang members, I see several enter a nearby building, which doesn't really make sense, unless…

I saw a flash of white in there, disappearing instantly… now, it could be something random, but intuition is telling me that it is more than just a random coincidence.

Glancing around to check if anyone is watching me, I sprint over to the building, and enter it, glancing around to see if anyone is nearby.

I briefly see a door slam shut as it seems like a White Fang member searches it, I partially consider heading in to fight them or incapacitate them, but at the same time I'm not prepared for a fight as I don't have my weapons, nor any defense.

Nonetheless, I head over to the doorway, putting my ear next to the cracks to listen if I hear anything of interest.

Listening with my faunus ear I can barely make out a conversation.

"Where's the Schnee girl?" I hear a gruff voice interrogate.

"I… what?" a middle aged voice responds.

"You know who we are talking about?" the same voice continues.

"I… I don't know… I heard yelling and screaming, and I just locked my door and hid. As… as far as I'm aware no one has entered the building," the same voice quivers.

I hear the sound of someone being punched followed by a scream of pain, "Don't lie to us!" the voice demands yet again, "Where is she? I know you're hiding her!"

I pull my ear back slightly disgusted, but at the same time, I don't exactly have the time to listen in to the entire conversation. And as much as I do want to stop it, I don't want to attract attention to myself.

But I now do know that she is hiding somewhere here… it's just a matter of where she is hiding.

Problem is, I doubt I have much of a better chance of finding her than the White Fang members… but if I was Weiss Schnee, where would I hide?

She could use her glyphs to speed off somewhere, but then again the White Fang have the manpower in order to find her, so I'm not sure if that would have helped much.

At the same time… there is Winter Schnee, and she might have left a way for her to find Weiss, the only problem would be what?

I look at the front of the building and see a large glass pane. Weiss could have hidden near there, but it is too visible.

So maybe something with the glyphs? I mean…

A door ahead of me opens up, and I quickly duck behind a counter in order to hide.

"Let's check the next room," a distinctly female voice says from over the counter.

I don't hear a response, but by the way, I heard the shuffling of clothes, the partner must have nodded or something.

For the time being, I stay crouched behind the counter for a short period, hugging myself to keep the cold out…

Now that I think of it, it does seem very cold… and why is it so cold in a heated building… and now that I think of it, why is it snowing in the building also?

I hold out my hand briefly and a snowflake lands in my hand, and at a closer glance, it looks to be the same symbol as the glyphs that Weiss uses.

This only confirms my suspicion, either Weiss or Winter is here somewhere…

But, now that I think of it, what else uses do her glyphs have? I mean, she can run fast with them, create ice, and jump high…

Now that I think of it, this floor does have a really high roof, as it's one of those buildings where all the floors open up into a wide open space.

I look up using a hand to cover my face from the snow and squint my eyes trying to make any detail out.

I can't exactly see much, due to a large white chandelier in the way, which covers up most of the roof due to how large and bulky it is… wait for a second, a large white chandelier…

And now that I look closers something seems almost out of place… something on top of the chandelier.

Well shit, I found her.

Throwing caution to the wind I sprint over to a door that has a staircase symbol marked on it, and open the door and start running up the stairs.

Let me think… by how high she was, I would guess that she would be relatively on the sixth or seventh floor.

So I have a lot of freaking uphill sprinting to get done.

Mother of fuck.

So I sprint non-stop up the stairs. While I am trained quite well for endurance due to Mountain Academy, I'm not exactly a professional huntsman, and it's the dead of winter, in a cold building, while I am wearing winter clothing.

So, naturally, I'm really fucking exhausted by the time I reach the seventh floor.

Which partially leads me to forget that I'm trying to hide as well, something that screws over my plan when I slam the door to the seventh-floor open.

Grimacing I run out and to one of the ledges overlooking the chandelier and lean over trying to find her.

It takes me a good second, but eventually, I see her holding onto the chandelier looking right back at me with wide eyes.

"Weiss," I half-whisper, half-shout, "come with me."

"I'm not coming with you," she defiantly half-whispers, half-shouts.

 _Oh for the love of…_ "Weiss, I'm not with them, I'm trying to help. Just trust me for…"

I hear a door slam open from below me and her gaze fearfully heads a floor below. It takes me a second later to deduct who it is, especially with the feminine, violent, voice shouting, "I found her! Sixth floor, on the chandelier!"

I look back at Weiss as she scrambles her way to the other side, trying to put as much distance between her and the supposed White Fang member.

I can hear footsteps as they supposedly head over to the edge, as close to the chandelier as possible, probably to try and grab her.

My mind rushes to come up with a plan, and luckily or not, I think of one… one that will probably get me killed.

I try to think of something else, but my best second plan is to head down the stairwell, although they might hear me, and it might take too long, my third plan is to jump onto the chandelier, which will probably send the entire thing tumbling down.

So reluctantly I go with my first plan.

I take a few feet back and sprint at the handrail, praying to god that I don't die. At the last second, I jump and raise my legs, launching my whole body over the balcony.

Using my hand I grab onto the handrail, using it as a pivot to send my in an arc down to the sixth floor.

For a brief second there is nothing below me as I swing from the seventh to the sixth floor, but luckily enough, with a painfully large tug on my shoulder, I swing onto the floor below me, tumbling on the floor, which I turn into a roll onto my feet.

As soon as I look up I twist to my right only to see two White Fang members leveling some sort of rifle at me.

Cursing under my breath, I sprint at the closest one, throwing out my hand at them, which sends a lightning bolt right at the closest member's chest, which momentarily stuns them.

Using that, I angle myself so that the stunned member is in front of the member behind them, so I'm relatively safer.

Reaching the stunned member, I jump into the air and plant my feet on the person's shoulders, grabbing the rifle in their hands in the process. Carrying my momentum through I push down, sending their entire upper body slamming onto the floor.

Continuing my momentum into a roll, I come out and see the other member's feet right in front of me, twist around kicking them out from under the second member.

Standing up, I kick the gun away from their hands and proceed to kick them in the head, which hits the wall next to them, knocking them out cold.

I twist around and aim the rifle at the first member as a precautionary measure, only to see that they got knocked unconscious as well.

I let out a large sigh, guess that makes it easier. Wouldn't want to have to shoot someone.

Relaxing a bit, I look back at the chandelier to again meet Weiss' eyes.

"Do you believe me now when I say I'm on your side?" I question, perhaps a bit too violently and angrily.

She doesn't respond as she stares at me uncertainly, "Look," I exasperate, heading to a normal volume, "every White Fang member in this building knows where you are. I just risked my life to help you, so for one second please just trust me, and get the hell out of there, because in a minute's time you are going to be swarmed by ten White Fang members, and the chandelier will only last so long in holding them off"

For another couple seconds I stand there glaring at her, until she finally says, "Fine, I'll trust you for the time being," as she meekly scrambling to the edge of the chandelier.

I reach out my hand to catch her for when she jumps, but she just creates a glyph from under her and jumps right onto the floor next to me, completely ignoring my attempt to help.

Well then.

For a second we just stare at each other, until I mutter, "Let's head higher," unsure of what else to say.

She nods as she brushes herself off, standing up with her back straightened out.

"My sister said that if this were to ever happen that I should hide and that she would find me," she replies a second later.

"My point exactly," I respond walking over to the stairwell, "we should head higher, and just hope that no one finds us."

I pause for a second, "In case we were to get in a fight, do you want to use the other assault rifle?" I ask as I think about the one I have in my hands.

She shakes her head, "I… I'm not trained to use them," she replied meekly.

Fair enough.

And so we dip into relative silence, our mouths zipped shut as we continue with out plan. And as we near the doorway to the stairwell I open it up with one hand as I glance to check if anyone is right there, and luckily no one is there, but I can faintly hear the sound of footsteps way down below.

"We should hurry," I mutter as I start sprinting up the stairwell checking for a second to make sure that she is following me.

For a bit, we just sprint up, each of us as quiet as can be, until we reach the 14th floor, at which I stop for a bit.

"I think this is high enough," I whisper exhausted, looking behind me at her.

She seems to think for a second and then says, "I agree."

I nod and quietly open up the stairwell door and head out glancing around. And a problem quickly arises, the problem is that we are in a hotel, meaning that all the doors are locked by a keycard. And I doubt we have the time to head down to the first floor and buy a room.

"Any idea where to head?" I ask Weiss.

"I thought you knew what you were doing," she snaps back.

I turn back around at her and stare, "I'm 17, I'm technically not even a huntsmen yet, I don't have a plan for everything."

She huffs for a second but then whispers back, "Can't you use your semblance?"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

She again huffs and says, "Use your semblance to short circuit the lock and open up the door."

I shake my head, "That's not how it works…" I think for a second, "Can't you use your semblance, however?"

She stares at me, "how do you even know what my semblance is?"

I let out a large sigh, "Not the time! Just… just, can you use your semblance to move the lock?"

She shakes her head, "I'm not sure. I don't have precise controls over my semblance yet, but I can attempt it if you wish."

I motion for her to go ahead with a free hand.

She walks over and holds her hands out. She then performs a motion and a white glyph appears on the handle. She stares intensely at it for a second then turns and shakes her head.

"Something is in the way," she says.

I think for a second, and deduct that it may actually be the device keeping it in place, "Hold this," I mutter handing her the assault rifle.

She clumsily grabs it for a second as she holds on to it. Ignoring that I walk over and hold out my left hand and focus it with my right hand, a second later a bright bolt of electricity strikes the mechanism, the red light signaling it is locked turning off a second later.

Shaking my hand to regain feeling again I walk over to her and grab the assault rifle, "try again."

Weiss huffs and walks over and repeats the same process of holding out her hands and doing the motion. This time the glyph appears and spins a bit before disappearing. Weiss then confidently grabs the handle and flings the door open.

"Open sesame," I mutter.

She then walks in with me right behind her, Weiss turning on the lights while I shut the door from right behind us.

I walk over to the center of the room and see two beds against the wall, I lie the assault rifle against one and flop onto it, running my hands through my hair and letting out a large groan.

I glance over at Weiss who pulls out a chair from a nearby desk and sits on it, keeping her back as rigid as a steel pole.

For what feels like a minute we just keep in our respective positions, a tense awkwardness building between us.

"Hey," Weiss finally says, as I perk up and look at her, "thank you for helping me back there."

"No problem," I respond waving a hand, "That's why I'm training to become a huntsman," I half-sarcastically comment, "to help people and save the day."

For a couple seconds silence returns until she asks, "I'm assuming you attended Mountain Academy?"

"The one and only," I respond sarcastically.

"What was it like?" Weiss asks.

I shake my head side to side as I think about what to say, "I don't really have any comparison, so I'm running off of what I thought, as an FYI. But what do I think? It's very rigid, with good yet harsh teachers. Hell, sometimes it feels like I'm at a boot camp. But, it is fun, some teachers end up being cool, and you get to meet a lot of kids. Why'd you ask?"

She pauses for a second then sighs and slumps down a bit, "I'm training to become a huntsmen if you weren't aware of that," she takes that second to take a breath, "and when I reach 17 years old I wish to attend one of the huntsmen academies, the only problem is that I want to head Beacon Academy or Haven Academy, while my father wants me to head to Atlas Academy. At the same time, however, it feels like my father doesn't want me to head to Atlas out of any personal gain, but to be able to…"

"Keep you under his watch," I finish for her.

She lets out a large sigh, "Exactly."

"If my opinion means anything," I say after a short pause, "Then I would say go to Beacon or Haven. Do what you want before you run out of time to do so."

I say that partially referring to my previous life and how it was cut short so soon.

"Thank you," Weiss responds staring at her feet, "but where do you want to attend? Or, where have you applied? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

I shrug, "I applied to all 4 major huntsmen academies, that's kinda what everyone does, but for where I want to go?" I shrug again, "Atlas is my largest choice, I think Beacon would be cool, but I don't exactly have the money to travel."

That and it was quite well known that Atlas generally provides for many of the needs of the students.

"Why don't you have the money to travel?" Weiss asks.

"Ah, well," I respond chuckling slightly, "I'm actually an orphan. In all honesty, I don't exactly have a backup plan if I don't get accepted at all, so I'm just hoping I get accepted to one."

I look up at her as she covers her mouth in horror in the realization that I'm an orphan, "I'm so sorry," she whispers.

"Don't be," I reply casually, "It's not exactly like I hate it, perse. I never really knew my parents in the first place, so I'm not sure of what I'm missing out on."

Of course, that's not exactly true.

"Still… I," she takes a breath, "I would like to apologize for my previous behavior."

I wave my hand and again say, "Don't be. No offense, but I've been treated much worse than you have."

She looks down at her feet. She opens her mouth to say something, but we are interrupted by the sound of a scroll going off. I briefly check my scroll but have no notifications. Weiss pulls out her scroll and looks at it for a second.

"What is it?" I ask.

She doesn't respond for a second as she squints her eyes and looks intensely at her scroll, "It's Winter… ah, my sister. She's asking me if I'm safe and where I am."

"What are you going to say," I continue.

"Well, that I'm fine, and that I'm at the Grand Atlesian Resort…" she pauses for a second, "Do you know our room number."

I look up at the ceiling and start tilting my head as I try to recall, "room 1427 I think."

She taps away at her scroll and sets it down, to which we remain silent, the conversation having left us.

A minute later the scroll buzzes and she picks it up again, "Apparently the majority of the Faunus… ahem, White Fang have been captured or have left. However, Winter is advising that we stay where we are just in case."

I nod and respond simply, "Whatever makes it the easiest."

* * *

 **Later**

 _ **Knock Knock Knock**_

I perk up as Weiss stares up from her scroll.

"You think that is your sister?" I ask, staring at the door.

"I would assume so, however, I can't be sure," she replies.

A loud, slightly muffled, feminine voice pierces through the doorway, "Weiss Schnee, open up this door."

"I think that's your sister," I say blandly.

Weiss stands up and brushes herself off, taking a second to straighten herself up, and walks to the door putting on a smile.

As she reaches the door I ask her a harmless question, "Did you tell Winter that I'm here."

And as the opens the door her faces turn a deathly white as she stares right at me, "Weiss, are you okay…" Winter says from the doorway, pausing a bit, "Are you okay, you seem scared…"

I hear footsteps as Winter walks in the room making eyes right with me, and for a split second, we just stare at each other. Winter in surprise, and me in half-horror, half-surprise.

And a split second later she has her weapon out and aimed right for my head, the weapon feeling a lot more dangerous despite the distance away.

However, before I can even respond Weiss is in front of Winter saying, "Don't! He helped me evade the White Fang!"

Winter doesn't lower her weapon as she stares at Weiss.

Weiss sighs a bit and says, "He defeated two members when they made and attempt to grab me. I might not be here if it were not for him."

She looks at me for a good second before lowering her weapon and saying, "My apologies, Mr…"

"Uh, Caerus, Caerus Ferrum," I half-squeak out.

"Caerus," she says as if she is testing out the word, "thank you for taking care of my sister. That is extremely kind and considerate of you."

"Uh huh," I reply a bit surprised at how fast she went from murderous blood rage to elegant politician.

Having finished that she turns back to Weiss, getting on one knee and looking over her protectively "How are you Weiss, are you hurt? Did anyone harm you?"

"I'm fine Winter, Caerus was able to stop anything before it got out of hand," she responds happily.

"That's good to hear, but I think we should head back to father, I think we've both had enough excitement for one day," Winter replies warmly.

She stands back up and stares at me, "Mr. Ferrum, I think that you should come with us for the time being, to avoid any _complications_."

Oh yeah, wouldn't want the police to think that I'm part of the White Fang… _again_.

* * *

 **Welcome to the latest installment of me uploading after a really long time (** _ **Jesus Christ, it's been over a month**_ **), only to say I'm sorry and make some lame excuse to why it was so late in the first place when I really should have gotten to work, but instead I wasted my time like I had done with everything else in my life, ignoring the fact that I am indeed going to eventually die and that I'm wasting my time doing frivolous activities that in no way help me or anyone around me.**

 **At least my excuse was that I went on a vacation, and for half of the time my laptop, which I generally use to write, wasn't working, and after fixing it (Which literally was hitting it on a desk, no joke), I didn't have the time in order to write.**

 **AND NOT ONLY THAT! But I didn't really know what to write for this chapter. I had about 11-ish scenes which I had fully written but didn't like, hence partially why it took so long. Beyond that, because I didn't know what to write, I got writer's block, so I just took a break for a while.**

 **As an FYI, I don't think that I'm going to put Atlas Academy next chapter, but the chapter after that, as I do have some little things I do want to get out of the way before we get to Atlas.**

 **Fun Fact! Half of this chapter was written while on jet lag, not that it really changes anything, but I'm literally dying inside. Send help.**

 **Till next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Age 17**

Welp, this morning I got handed a letter from the people who work at the orphanage.

Getting a letter is interesting enough, as I don't exactly have too many people that would send one to me, especially in the age of E-Mail's, but I was interested enough. So I went up to my bed and looked at the sender, Atlas Academy.

Naturally, I nearly tore the damn letter in half opening the thing, and read the page so fast, I might as well have an aneurysm.

And, drumroll, please… I got in.

I would say I'm my excited, yet half of my brain has not fully registered it yet, so I'm sitting here on my bed re-reading the acceptance letter over and over again, unsure of what to think of it. Besides the obvious scream of excitement when I first read it, which prompted a couple of concerned kids to check on me.

Deciding that I should tell some people, I pull out my scroll and scroll through my contacts, nearly pressing the wrong contact before I click on the correct one.

I press the call button and carefully lift the scroll up to my ear, for a couple seconds it rings ever so loudly until I hear a clicking sound.

" _Yo, what's up Caerus?_ " I hear a familiar voice say from the other end.

I let out a large sigh as I keep my voice calm, "You would not believe what just happened Jae."

* * *

The Orb… well it's gone.

Like as in not here, as in it was here, I traveled to this dimension, just out of curiosity, watched the orb for about 10 minutes, got bored, and started wandering around the city, ate a snack I brought. Oreos to be exact. Then I decided to head back, and whoopsy-fucking-doo, it orb disappeared.

And I don't exactly mean it vanished from existence, I can literally see the footsteps of someone who wandered in and took the orb and just left.

The revelation that someone else is here would be a lot more interesting/terrifying if it weren't for the fact that someone just walked up and FUCKING GRABBED THE ORB.

Can you even do that?

Like, is that even legal?

Maybe I'm just overthinking this.

But even now, I don't know exactly where I should head now because the only reason I can see the footsteps in the first place is because of the dust that has accumulated on the marble like floors of the tower, while the asphalt floors of the streets aren't as revealing.

I guess whoever got it couldn't have gotten too far though, and after a quick internal decision, I decide to head to the east side of the town where there is a large hill, which will hopefully allow me to see something.

A quick hop, skip, and fast-forward later, I'm there.

As I look around I can't exactly see anything out of the ordinary… I mean it's hard to make anything out on the surrounding landscape... but…

I see something! Off in the distance, very far away, I can barely see a figure, clothed in dark-gray garbs and seemingly running off towards the forest. Still, at the distance it is, I can barely make out the figure and am only able to see them in the first place due to the color difference.

Part of me is really excited at the prospect of another human, or at least what I think is a human, yet part of me is scared at the exact same time.

If nothing has been friendly so far, why would it stop now?

So, reluctantly, I decided to follow the being, trying to stay at a far enough distance to which I will not be noticed. As I don't need some other factor or enemy in my life at the moment, thank you very much.

And step by careful step I make my way down the hill, making extra sure not to fall forwards, and make my way across the way too flat field towards the forest.

As I do that, I notice something strange, the sky above me starts to be littered with dark clouds, and while that wouldn't be strange in Remnant, in this world, while it has always been dreary, I have never seen anything more than sparse clouds.

Nonetheless, I push that thought to the side, keeping a note on it, and preparing myself to open up a new portal at a moments notice.

And then… rain, I half-expected it to burn through my skin, due to the 'fuck you' nature of this realm, yet it doesn't. Surprisingly enough it just feels like normal rain, albeit annoyingly cold, yet normal rain nonetheless, which is both comforting and intriguing.

But sure enough, as I follow I realize the rain is quickly picking up in volume and intensity, to the point in which it is too weird to just be a coincidence, as I quickly have to hold out my hand to keep my sight relatively working.

At this point, I could head back, yet I've come too close to stop now. So I continue following the garbed person, as they adjust to the rain as well, increasing in speed as the rain continues to pick up...

Holy fuck…

Right after the person reached the forest a cream colored beam of light shot into the sky from right in front of me. It only seemed to get worse as the clouds started to center around it as I can even make out brief traces of thunder.

And then… pain.

Out of nowhere a searing pain arises from my hand, the kind in which you feel like the world is falling apart around you, and there is nothing you can do about it.

I grip my right hand as a searing pain grips it like an iron vice. Quickly thinking I raise it, the rain now feeling like sharp needles, trying to conjure up an image of Remnant hoping a portal would open up.

But be it the stinging rain, be it the brutal pain, or be it my lack of concentration, nothing happens.

I… at this point I'm not sure what to do, so as an attempt to stave off the pain, I crouch on my knees and bend over to shield my body from the rain, and hold my hand close to my chest, clutching it painfully as I try to push the pain aside.

And second, by everlasting second, it continues onwards, as the wind circles around me and the rain pelts my helpless body, until something unusual and interesting happens.

An orange burning mark appears on my hand in a thin line and slowly travels across my hand leaving a black mark behind. The mark itself quickly forms into a shape… a shape that I've never seen before.

The symbol itself has no curved edges, only sharp corners, and at first glance, it doesn't look like much… but the more I look at it the more I start to see a disfigured skull.

The cheekbones are too jutting and angular, with gaps at the jaw shining through, as protruding marks around the upper jaw and the eyes, giving it a very foreign and un-human look.

And all the while, the pain from my hands, seems to crawl its way under my skin, and through my bones, slowly overwhelming me until it is all I feel, and finally giving it, I collapse, as my eyes slowly close in utter pain.

* * *

I'm alive.

I mean, of course, I'm alive.

But really, I'm alive and fine?

I slowly sit up as my sore muscles protest against any movements.

I'm still in the nether realm, and I apparently woke up in the same place as where I collapsed, the only sign of the previous events being my stiff clothes from the dried up water…

And the mark on my hand… I almost forgot about that.

Reaching out with my other hand I briefly run my fingers over the mark, not feeling anything but a dull throbbing from the previous pain.

It almost feels like it was always there.

Slowly I stand up and take a few tantalizing steps, testing my ability to walk normally after the previous ordeal, and luckily enough I seem to be able to retain that ability.

Taking a few steps towards the forest I use an outstretched branch as stabilization as I walk to where I previously heading before the ordeal.

Slowly I make my way through the forest heading to where I was heading previously, hoping that I might find something that tells me what had happened previously, yet to no avail.

The closest thing I found was an open field, that might have been used at one point, but at this point, it is too hard to tell.

Reluctantly I hold out my right hand and think about a portal, but something surprises me this time.

As the portal opens up, the newly made mark on my hand glows a beautiful orange, little wisps of light coming off of it in the process. It is mesmerizing to the point that I almost forget to focus on the portal, and it almost closes on me.

Yet I keep the portal open, and with both my eyes on my hand I walk through it and into my bedroom, watching the glowing mark disappear with the portal.

That was weird… and I think I may have fucked things up, big time.

* * *

 **Age 17**

I suppose there is some sort of grim poeticness to the situation I am in right now.

Haha, ' _grim poeticness_ '. You get it, because there is the Grimm, and I said grim… you know what. Just forget it.

I had expected my first day in Atlas Academy to be a lot different, a lot less ambiguity, and a lot more of happiness and 'Welcome to Atlas'. But I guess they don't have the budget, or the care, for that as they basically said welcome, and put me in a bunk bed to sleep and told me that if I were to wake up I would be shot on the spot.

Okay, maybe not exactly like that, but Atlas Academy looks like a freaking military compound, and when they put you to bed and tell you not to leave your room, you can't help but feel a bit of foreboding.

I mean, that would have been cool and all, hint hint wink wink for future Atlas ideas, but instead I got full military treatment at 1-AM, by being woken up by ice cold water and shoved into a bullhead.

This is where we are now, above the forest where I was attacked 10 years ago, staring down from the bullhead as my stomach starts climbing up my throat.

"Hey bud," the man next to me says as I twist to face him.

He hands me a red cylindrical stick and says, "activate this is you're about to die, and we'll come to help."

"What if I'm not about to die?" I question.

"Yeah, don't do that," he replied monotonously turning to face the pilot muttering something to him.

I just face him for a second until he turns back, "Okay bud, this is your stop. You get out here."

I crawl my way and look over the edge and to the forest tens of feet below me, thinking about how large of a splatter I would make if I were to fall out.

I turn back to him, "I get out here? Like, I jump out, or do you land or something? Or do you hand parachutes or something?"

Oh god, I'm turning into Jaune.

He stares back threateningly. Or at least I think threateningly, it's hard to tell with one of those oversized bulky and what seems to be downright useless helmets that everyone wears in a bullhead.

"Alright," I mutter to myself figuring out that I'm going to half to jump out into Grimm infested territory, as I make sure my weapon works.

I lean over the edge, again judging how much of a splatter I would make. I've never really been afraid of heights, but something about being right next to the large jet engines of a bullhead, above miles of known Grimm infested territory strikes some wrong note inside of me.

Not a fun experience.

Deciding that I've spent enough time, and afraid that if I spent any more Atlas will just reject me. I decide to throw odds into the winds of the fucking loud engines of the bullhead and jump out.

Going back to the skydiving lessons we had in Mountain Academy I straighten myself out as I approach the treeline.

Once I reach the treetop I, I straighten myself out and reach out my right hand and extend my sword, jabbing it into a tree, which in turn yanks my arm way too painfully.

Landing strategy? You might ask. Yeah, I didn't exactly have one. But if it works, and is stupid, then it ain't stupid.

My sword does a good enough job slowing down my descent from above as splinters fly out from the tree and strike my clothes.

Eventually, my body stops a good 15 feet above the ground as my arm rubs painfully against my head as I try to dislodge my sword from the tree.

Several seconds later it does so and I fall down onto the forest floor turning my momentum into a roll as I straighten up onto my feet glancing back at the tree which I just mutilated.

0/10 Would Not Do That Again

With that I look up in the sky, to see my favorite bullhead fly off into the distance, probably to torment some other 17 year old with heights and death.

I look around the forest, as it expands infinitely in every direction, as I have no sense where I actually am, because I was too god damn tired to actually pay attention to most of the bullhead ride.

So, uh, what next?

* * *

I see a bullhead, well when I say see I mean, I can hear it off in the distance and can see the flashing lights in the pitch dark of night.

So, yes, I can see a bullhead off into the distance.

Ignoring the brief thought that someone came to save me because they are _not_. It appears I'm not the only person to be stuck in this hellhole of a test, as they appear to be doing the same maneuver of staying in a position and depositing a helpless person into the woods.

I would have to give them props for this if it weren't for the fact I'm on the receiving end of this torment.

That beside I think we can all agree it is better to team up with any potential friend instead of staying by myself… that is of course if they are dropping off humans, and not Grimm… and well, if they do drop off Grimm, I think I need to rethink my choice of school.

So deciding to throw care out the window and drive over it with an SUV, I start sprinting over to the other bullhead, steadying my breaths as per training.

And bit by bit I reach ever closer, as the bullhead seems to stay a constant distance away, yet as time passes I can start to make out closer details, as my distance from the bullhead starts to close.

And then it leaves, having dumped its cargo, it just leaves off into the distance, perpendicular from the way I'm facing, like some sort of odd super hero, off to save the day my grabbing some teenager from their bed and enforcing some test upon them.

Deciding that is of little interest I continue my plan of finding a friend, as I only continue my speed, the bullhead having acted as a beacon of safety unwittingly.

And eventually, I find… oh fuck.

Well, I'm not the only person here. Well, I use _person_ sparingly, as it is most likely, I'm not the only _being_ here. And how can I tell? Well someone else reached the huntsmen in training before I did.

How can I tell? Well, the huntsmen in training once had a ribcage. _Once_. The poor girl has her body lying on the ground unceremoniously, as her face stays in some permanent twisted disfigured face.

10 points to the idiot who thought up this idea. Because, mother of fuck, why does every goddamn test in this scenario has to have some sort of chance of death. CAN WE NOT HAVE A REGULAR TEST FOR ONCE.

Like, have something simple, like 'y=mx+b', easy enough right. Not this bullshit. Because of Jesus fucking christ, I know the life of a huntsmen is brutal, but really now. Dumping a girl out of a bullhead and leaving her to die. Doesn't seem very Atlas like.

But I mean, now that I think of it, there really isn't any blood around her, and if I were to die as violently as she did, then I would have at least made some sort of mess. And they did give me the flare/beacon thingy, which she should have used since I'm assuming chest removals aren't exactly instant things.

Not sure though, don't exactly specialize in chest removals.

Furthermore, as much as it makes sense, I don't see anything around me… Let me rephrase that, I don't _sense_ anything around me. Well you might be saying "That's the point of hiding," well first fuck you, and second after all the life threatening scenarios I've been, I've gotten a good sense of danger, and yet I don't feel anything nearby. And you know what?...

Actually, I'll stop there, I imagine you get my point at this point. Something is off. And as I ever so carefully walk up to her, I notice that her blood is way too dry for how soon she had died.

Could she…?

Maybe.

I hold out my sword at her wrist and poke it gently, as it bends inwards as expected, as per, you know, flesh. But, I keep the edge of my sword pointed at her wrist and mutter, "I'm sorry," as I plunge inwards.

And just as I expected. The body is fake, most of her body, besides the chest, of course, is just full of some wet and jiggly material.

Hah. Hahah. Hahahahahah.

That's clever, really fucking mean, but clever. 10 more points to the asshole who thought of this, because as much as I hate the person who thought of this, it is really clever.

At least that gives me hope that I won't die horribly. I think.

That does now raise the question if I'm the only person out here, or if this is dumped here for anyone to find. Because it doesn't make too much…

I heard something.

In the blink of a second, I'm crouched down and holding out my gauntleted left hand primed and ready to fire a charged bolt, glancing around the forest, holding the longsword near my chest if anything were to attack.

For a couple seconds, I glance around trying to find the source of the noise, and hearing nothing else, in result, I scramble to a nearby tree to try and use it as cover.

I mean, I'm quite sure something else is out there. I could be wrong, but to improve my ego I'm going to assume that I'm correct. That only raises the matter of what else is there? Because if it's human, that simplifies things quite a bit, if it is Grimm then that complicates things. The problem is that…

You know what, fuck it.

"Anyone there?" I call out to any potential listener.

For a second the only reply I am met with is the somber rustling of the leaves, and the quiet zephyr of wind, but a second later I hear a distinctly feminine voice reply, "Yeah."

"Are you also in Atlas training?" I question inquisitively.

I can briefly make out the sound of a sigh as I also hear, "Yeah."

"And you're trying to figure out what the hell you're trying to do?"

"Yep."

For a second we sit here in silence, each of us in our respective hiding places until I say, trying to sound as friendly as possible, "Truce?"

I hear a short chuckle, "Let's do that."

I step out from behind my tree and glancing around me I try to find the person I was talking to. A half a second later I make out a figure that steps out from behind an outcropped hill and into my vision.

For a short period, we don't say anything as we just examine each other. Her apparel looks quite unique in terms of huntsmen apparel, as while most prefer light yet strong cloths, she is wearing full plate mail over from her upper torso to her feet, the only unprotected spot being her face. The plate mail itself looks quite average, with nothing too much special about it besides the almost gray dust looking finish on top of it, with black stripes running vertically down the entire armor set. With a large gray pouch slung over her shoulder.

The most interesting thing is the enormous dual sided great axe that sits on her shoulder. The thing seems to be one thing, and one thing only, menacing. With no soft curves the entire thing is covered with sharp edges and jagged spikes that only add to the aggressive appearance.

"Amaranth," the woman in front of me says holding out a gloved hand for me to shake, "But if that's too long you can just call me Ama."

I grab it and shake with my right hand, replying, "Caerus."

We take the second to glance around at the surrounding area as the newly named Amaranth says, "You have any idea of what we are supposed to do?"

I shrug, "Not really."

She twists around nearly hitting me in the head with her oversized great axe, "I was thinking that we should follow the bullheads, as they should lead somewhere."

"Somewhere?" I question.

"I don't know, I'm looking for something. Atlas, some sort of compound, and airfield, hell itself, I'm just taking whatever they give me," she continues on shrugging.

"So," I start trying to gain my bearings, "I think they came that way," I continue pointing westwards, having seen the bullheads head that direction, "Which means we should probably head that way."

"I don't see any reason not to," she finishes off.

* * *

"So why do you want to be a huntsmen?" Amaranth asks innocently as we continue our way through the forest.

As I step over an offending branch I reply, "It's kinda complicated, as there's a lot of things that encourage me."

"Well give me one reason then," she says colloquially.

I bite my lip for a second and then respond, "I suppose this is the easiest way to get things done. I, like everyone else, am pretty much doing this for the greater good, and it seems like a better option than sitting in an office all day."

She doesn't reply for a second to which I take the opportunity to say, "What about you?"

She takes a deep breath and looks around in thought, just as I'm about to say something else she responds, "I almost feel obligated to. My parents before me were huntsmen, and their parents before them were huntsmen. I'm guessing that doesn't mean much to you city-folk, but I grew up on the outskirts, so continuing your parent's job is kinda a big thing."

As I'm about to reply she then lets out a laugh, "Ah what the hell. The people I live with haven't exactly had it easy recently, we've constantly been on the move, never living in a single spot, because of all the threats. So I'm doing this to be able to protect them."

"I guess that's fair enough," I reply simply, "to each their own."

I suppose I can't fault her for that. I mean I would do the same if I were in her position.

"So," I continue awkwardly trying to continue the conversation, "You grew up outside Atlas. What was it like there."

"I actually grew up in a town very far away from here," she replies quietly, "but to answer your question, it's fine I guess. The only teensy problem being that literally everything seems to be out trying to kill you."

"I guess that'll happen."

" _I guess that'll happen_ ," she quotes jokingly, "you sound you're talking about spilling a drink on your favorite shirt. Come on, have a bit of emotion here."

I widen my eyes a bit in amusement as I wave a hand batting at her, "Yeah well, that'll happen."

She lets out a playful groan as we continue walking, our attitude having gone from murderously tense to playfully tense.

"So what's your weapon," Ama asks glancing at my wrists, "I know my weapon is about a simple as a 1-year-old's toys, but yours looks like a god damn Rubix Cube."

I let out a chuckle and hold up my right hand which holds the sword, "Well this is, well, a straight sword. It's simple enough, and if you don't get it then I'm going to question your intelligence."

I then hold up my left hand, "this is a gauntleted crossbow with changing ammunition types."

"What ammunition types?" she continues.

"Well regular bolts which I can charge with lightning, which is my semblance,, smoke bolts, for creating a smoke screen, armor piercing bolts with a shaped charge, for blowing shit up, and, uh, an explosive arrow. For you know, blowing shit up."

" _Riveting_ ," she says sarcastically.

"I know, right?"

She huffs playfully and silence follows, as I bask in my victory in the conversation. Seconds later, however, I get bored and ask, "What about your weapon, I can tell that it is a great axe, but is there anything beyond that?"

"Well," she says playfully, "I have the great axe for splitting skulls when necessary, and the fun part comes when it transforms into an anti-material rifle."

"An anti-material rifle?" I question raising an eyebrow, hiding my curiosity.

"Yepper," she says happily, now adding a bit of a hop into her walk, "it has two ammunition types, although I generally use explosive rounds for, you know, blowing shit up," she finishes off with a playful grin.

"Oh hardy har har," I tease, "doubt it'd be easy to aim such a large weapon on the move though."

"I'm taking that as a challenge," she starts lowering her hand to grab the handle of her great axe.

"Oh fine," I groan, "I take that back."

"And?" she continues with a grin.

"Your weapon is superior in every way to mine."

"That's what I like to hear," she replies happily.

"Wait till we get back," I start, "then…"

I heard something.

I strain my faunus ears trying to make out a sound, but I hear nothing. But if any story has ever told me anything, not hearing anything only proves that something is there.

"You alright there?" Ama asks.

I raise my finger to my lips and change the bolt in my gauntlet to explosive, hoping that if whatever is there is evil, I can blow it into submission…

Bad wording there.

"Anyone there?" I half-shout, half-whisper.

"If you wanna kill us, go for the faunus first," Ama says from older my shoulder.

I turn around and glare at her playfully, to which she just shrugs innocently. Yet as I turn back around I don't hear anything.

And then, a beowolf comes out from behind a tree several hundred feet away, skulking towards us slowly. I mean, a single beowolf shouldn't be that hard for the two of us…

Now there's two.

Make that five…

And now there's seven.

"Do you see them," I whisper to Ama.

"See what?" she asks.

I look over my shoulder again to ask if she's serious but seeing the grin on her face I realize she's just acting cheeky.

We slowly take a step back, the clanking of her armor hampering our attempts to act quiet, as I whisper, "So do you want to split up or work together…"

 _ **Booooom**_

Oh, mother of fuck.

She fired her rifle. Right next to my ears. Without warning. Which shattered my ear drums, and then some. Hell, she probably single handily gave me tinnitus.

I'll give her credit though. While both my wolf ears ring in pain, I see the leading beowolf's head implode in a spectacular manner, showering the flanking beowolves in brain matter, the other one's going from their slow skulk to a charge.

"Together it is," I mutter.

I fire an explosive bolt right in front of where they are charging setting the first few beowolves ablaze as I take a few steps back trying to gain my bearings.

Ama, however, does the exact opposite, transforming her weapon back into the great axe and charging in, some of the beowolves turning to face her with a growl.

In response I send a bolt of lightning out towards the beowolves hoping to stun them for a short period of time to help Ama. Due to my head spinning, thanks to a certain person, I slightly miss and a bit of my bolt glances Ama, making her stumble a bit.

"Sorry," I yell halfheartedly hoping she doesn't decide to decapitate me later.

However, right as Ama reaches the beowolves they split like a wave, and run past her, heading straight for me.

Figures, go for the weaker one…

Or the one that appears weaker. Because I'm totally not the weaker one. Right?

Well, that's a discussion for another time.

But still, slightly perturbed by the actions of the beowolves I take a few cautionary steps back as I fire another lightning bolt into the crowd hoping to delay them again.

That slightly works as a couple of them stumble as they slowly start weakening, one even starting to move at a walking pace, but the others continue their charge.

"Duck!" I hear Ama yell from over the beowolves. And at a quite glance I see her lining up her anti-material rifle.

Hence, I dive out of the way, just barely escaping an explosion which kills the weakened beowolf but misses the rest.

With the beowolves now upon me, I block a swipe with my gauntlet, and slash at the beowolf's shoulder creating a large gash, which slightly impairs its movements and gives me more space to work with.

Not wanting to fight a outnumbered battle I jump away afterwards, firing an armor piercing bolt at the injured beowolf's shoulder which lodges itself right in the wound, exploding and nearly tearing that beowolf in half.

Ama comes in from behind them and swings in a large arc, the beowolves jumping back instinctively, which gives me time to regroup with Ama.

"You know the plan?" Ama asks me.

"We have a plan?"

"Yeah, hit them with the one-two."

"What the hell is a one-two?"

Ama raises her great axe to deflect a beowolf's strike, saying, "Just fucking shoot them."

Rolling my eyes I line up another shot with an electrically charged bolt at the nearest beowolf. Releasing the bolt with the flex of a thumb it strikes the beowolf which spasms slightly, I quickly glance over at Ama, only to see her defending herself from another beowolf, so I dash over and hit the beowolf with an electrically charged punch which further stuns it.

Ama then comes over and with a brutal overhead swing decapitates the beowolf, which leaves 3 beowolves left remaining.

"See? The one-two," Ama says taking a step back.

"Technically that was three strikes."

"Ah shut up."

Ama then leaps into the air, into the remaining three beowolves raising her great axe to strike down right in the middle of the three.

And right as she hits the ground, an explosion surges out with Ama right at the epicenter, sending a the beowolves tumbling back, as Ama comes out of her jump with a roll and leaps away.

"Caerus!" she yells, "do your thing!"

"Got it," I shout back, releasing a bolt of lightning that hits the nearest beowolf and jumps to one right next to it, the nearest one slumping down either from exhaustion, or death. Preferably death.

Ama fires at the other beowolf from her position, knocking a large enough chunk of its chest out to kill it instantly, leaving the last injured beowolf nearby me, which I dash over to kill.

However, right as I'm about to strike it down, something unusual happens. A bubbling red and black festering growth appear on the bone mask, at first I didn't even notice it, as I was too focused on other things, but after a second it started to spread over the mask, the beowolf visibly reacting to it, by clawing at its face.

Not wanting to see what that means, I quickly jam my sword into its neck and yank violently to tear half of its neck open, killing it instantly.

I look behind me to see Ana, looking at the beowolf that I had just killed, to which I ask, "did you see that?"

She furrows her brow for a second, and just replies simply, "See what?"

I guess not.

Still, as I look at the beowolf I can still see the bubbling growth, which is now starting to harden into a reflective black shell, easily visible to the naked eye.

Maybe it's just me.

I slump my shoulders, letting myself relax, and walk away from the previous battle scene, and over to a nearby tree to relax, Ama watching me from a distance.

"Exhausted over a single fight?" Ama asks teasingly.

"I just… it's… things have been…" I pause and take a breath, "yeah, sure, I'm exhausted," I finish giving up trying to explain what has been happening recently.

"Well get up, I'm not going to carry you through the entire forest."

I smile a bit and sarcastically reply with, "Pretty please?"

"Nice try."

"Fine fine, I'm getting up, are you happy now?" I say, walking over to her as she smirks happily.

"Yep," she simply replies.

For a second we remain silent as I look at the battle scene we had created as Ana, for some reason, searches through her bag, "So what's the plan?" I ask.

"We continue where we were going previously."

I just nod in response as she finishes rummaging through her stuff, both of us staring to walk westwards again, while I check my scroll just to make sure that we are indeed heading in the right direction.

"What was that explosion thing you did earlier?" I ask, now remembering what she did.

"Ah, that was my semblance," she replies happily, "I can expend my aura in order to create explosions."

"Oh, that's cool."

" _Oh that's cool_ ," she again mimics, "You're as exciting as a lecture of the healing properties of lard."

"Well, that'll happen."

* * *

 **Greetings Viewers and/or homicidal sociopaths welcome to the 11th installment of my little story.**

 **On that note, we reached 10,000 views on the story, and 100 favorites, on the 10th chapter, which is actually really large now that I think of it, and cool, so thanks again to everybody.**

 **First off, to everyone who left a review. At the same time, I have something else to say. A reviewer by the name of Champygnakx left a review detailing possible future changes to Caerus' semblance. I'll give the short version of the possible ways, which is, they mainly center around electromagnetism. What I wanna say, is that first, thanks for the ideas, but electromagnetism is an area I'm going to tread lightly in, mainly because of the fact that if you think of magnetism in RWBY, you think of Pyrrha, and I don't exactly wanna have their semblances overlap much. He also detailed over plasma a bit, which I might (Although probably won't) go into later on into the story.**

 **Side note, because I forgot to put it last update. I went to RTX for the first time in Austin. It was cool and all, not really much else to say about it.**

 **Don't forget to leave a review.**

 **Till next time.**

 **P.S. I don't know why I'm saying it, but most of this chapter was wrote listening to the Dark Souls 3 Epilogue music, and Light of the Seven from Game of Thrones, two songs I definitely recommend you check out.**


	12. Chapter 12

Ama and I have walked through the entire night.

And you know, walking through the entire night has been absolutely _horrible_ , but at the very minimum we know we are heading in the right direction because you know, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. And from Mountain Academy, I know that the forests are in the East of Atlas.

If I need to explain more, you failed primary school.

But at the same time, I won't lie when it starts to feel as if we are going insane.

"Do you know where we are?" I ask, as my feet ache from under me, at least wanting to know that Ama might know where we are.

"Yeah," she says swiveling her head to look at me, "We're right in the middle of buttfuck nowhere."

"I think that much is obvious," I deadpan.

Ama seemed relatively easy to anger. That may just be my opinion stemmed with the fact I don't really hang around with your average teenager, but at the same time, it is something I keep note of anyway. I have enough moody teenagers in my life, me included.

"Yeah, well isn't that dandy," she exasperates, "maybe if we continue we'll end up in buttfuck somewhere."

"That would be a start."

"That would be a start, eh?" she repeats, "well then we'd be at least fucking…" she stumbles over her words for a second, "at least we'd be fucking…" and again, "FUUUUCK"

In a fit of rage, she swings her great axe and sends an entire tree tumbling down, as I raise my hand to cover my face from the splinters.

I stop for a second and look at her, as she gazes back at me with anger on her face, "I think it is time we took a break," I comment.

"No, we should…"

"I think it is time we took a break," I insist.

She shakes her head, "We may be really close to…"

"I think," I repeat stressing the word think, "that we should take a break."

She opens her mouth to say some retort, but nothing comes out as she just slumps down next to a tree, angling her head to look into the sky, as her eyes start closing slightly in exhaustion.

As stated we've walked through the entire night. At first we'd have thought that wherever we were heading would be a lot closer, and that we'd civilization by sunrise, but apparently not. Hell, I half expect us to be walking in circles, that would be an interesting plot device, wouldn't it?

"Do you have anything to eat?" I ask offhandedly.

"I have a gourmet platter full of explosive bullets and regular steel bullets, take your pick," she replies not changing her position.

"I'll take the steel bullet," I sarcastically reply.

"Here," she laughs throwing one of her bullets at me playfully, it bouncing off my face and landing in my lap. Nothing like the taste of a steel bullet in the morning.

And so we rest, me sitting with my back against a large hill, enjoying the feel of the grass on my back, while Ama sits with her back against a tree, her suit of armor most likely protecting her against the hard bark.

Now that I think of it, it must be exhausting carrying around that suit of armor, and large battleaxe all through the night. Not that I'm completely happy with her being annoyed, but I can kind of get where she is coming from.

"Hey," Ama says out of nowhere, partially stunning me, "can you eat raw meat?"

"What do you mean?" I question in return.

"You're a wolf faunus right?" she asks.

I nod in response.

"Does that mean you can eat raw meat and be fine, or do you have to have it cooked like the rest of us," she continues.

I shrug, "I've never tried that before. So I don't know."

"What'dya mean you've never tried it before," she asks cordially.

"Well, how often do you eat raw meat?"

She pauses and tilts her head from side to side, "Point taken. But do you wanna find out now?"

"You have food?" I ask lifting my head to look at her.

"Nah," she replies waving a hand, "but I know how to hunt, and I'd rather get food before you decide that I look like a nice meal, and plus I'm bored."

"I'm willing to help you hunt if you want," I say, "But I'd rather not eat raw meat, even if I will be fine."

"Aww, you're so boring."

"I'm not your guinea pig," I say with pretend annoyance.

"But you are my guinea… wolf?" she says, "Is that a thing?"

"No it's not."

"But it is now!" she says getting up, "Come on, stop being lazy and let's go."

"But you were the one that wanted to rest…"

"Ah ah ah," she says waving a finger, "No excuses, let's go."

I sigh and run a hand through my face and hair trying to rub the sleepiness out, as I run a brief diagnostic check on my gauntlet to make sure that it is still working.

"Come on, you're trailing behind," Ama says from in front of me.

"You haven't even started walking yet," I exasperate.

"What'd I say about excuses!" she asserted, "now let's go."

"Fine, fine, fine, I'm coming."

* * *

What is it now? Mid day or something? Well, long story in our hunting trip we didn't find anything.

Ama apparently does know a lot about surviving in the wildlife, so she was able to scrounge up something to eat, and while it does help. In the end I'm still quite hungry. All the training we get, and it doesn't help if luck just isn't with us.

I mean, at this point we're both tired, and hungry. Ama is irritated although she is trying her best to stay calm, while I'm just about to break out into hysterical laughter.

"What do you keep in that bag?" I ask Ama, as she peers into it again.

She glances up at me, and casually says, "Just some trinkets and stuff."

"Like what?" I continue curiously.

"A gift from my mother and father, and just little things from my past," she says quieter.

"Uh huh," I reply, "You do realize you could've left it back at Atlas, right?"

"Yeah, but I mean they dropped us off in the middle of nowhere, with no one to watch our stuff, I don't exactly trust them," she replies shrugging indifferently.

"I mean you're in an Atlas government building, it's probably one of the safest places in the world," I say, as Ama opens her mouth to say something, but I continue, "But I won't argue with you. You do you."

Ama nods content with what I said, and we continue on our way, as I listen with my wolf ears trying to make out any stray sound that may be an enemy, and Ama twisting around as she walks, bumping into things with her overly large great axe.

That is until Ama spots 2 beowolves off into the distance, prowling about, their black skin making them easily spotted in the bright daylight and slightly snowed over parts of an Atlas forest.

"You know the drill?" Ama asks as we ready our weapons, us deciding it would be easier just to get them out of the way now.

"I think so," I reply not paying much attention to what she is saying.

"Let's hit em' with the one-two," Ama says jokingly.

I shrug and say, "You mean the one-three."

"Ah shut up."

 **(LB)**

"You have any Queens?" I ask Ama who eyes me warily.

She eyes me for a good moment, seeming to stare me up, challenging me to make some sort of move, before responding with a quiet, "Go fish."

And the game continues.

* * *

At this point, it's approaching our second night out here in the forest.

Half way through the day we eventually realized we weren't making too much progress, and there wasn't any location in sight, so while we did continue, we went at a slower pace, deciding to enjoy the scenery a lot more.

Now that I think of it, if I light the flare, will they even come? I mean, we've walked for almost an entire day now, and it doesn't seem if we got anywhere. If we're no more closer to any Atlesian location, how will they even know where we are? At this point I'm half-tempted to light the flare they gave me just to see if they even come.

But I don't.

And at this point, we've been awake for practically an entire day, we're both tired, so we unanimously agreed that we're going to take a break to sleep now, not wanting to continue walking only to realize we could've slept hours ago.

We both went through the cycle of insisting that we should take first watch, even though it probably isn't necessary to keep watch in the first place, although I did win in the end, meaning that I would be first watch.

Something I'm starting to regret, because while they did teach you a lot in Mountain Academy, the one thing they never taught us to deal with is boredom.

I'm half tempted to go for a jog or to do something else, but then that would kinda defeat the purpose of staying on watch, and if I'm going to ignore it, then I'm just going to go to sleep, as the only thing I have to focus on at the moment is how hungry I am.

As I doze off I check my scroll which is starting to run dangerously low on battery.

It's 11:25 P.M.

A little over an hour and a half before my shift changes.

I put my scroll away and hug myself trying to keep the Atlas winter from giving me frostbite, as I start to doze off a bit, letting my eyelids shut slightly.

That is until I hear something off in the distance.

I can't exactly tell what it is, but it instantly puts me on edge, waking me up, and causing the cold weather to bite as hard as ever.

If I were to describe it, it almost sounds like a drumming sound, repeating constantly off into the distance.

I don't exactly want to wake Ama up, in case it is nothing, but at the same time, I'm prepared to wake her up at the moment's notice, as if I'm going to die, I'm sure as hell going to bring her with me.

Even with my faunus enhanced eyesight, I can't make anything off in the distance, especially through the thick treeline.

Nonetheless, I put my right hand on my sword hilt, and walk over to Ama, in case anything does happen.

And yet nothing does, as the sound gets louder, and louder, and louder.

Until I can make it out in the distance, a large black mass flying its way over here… a large black mass that's definitely not human, and definitely very evil.

"Uh Ama," I say shaking her awake violently, "we have a small problem, and by small I mean really large, and deadly, and black."

Ama just stumbles herself awake mumbling, "That's racist."

"Not the time, "I counter, "I'm lighting the flare."

That got Ama awake as she springs up right before I light the flare, "You're doing what now?"

"I'm lighting the flare," I repeat, twisting off the cap of the flare as preparing to light the thing.

She scrambles over and rips the thing out of the hand, "What do you think you are doing?"

I look at her in the eyes and exasperate, "Do I need to repeat myself?"

"Okay, fine, fine you're lighting the flare," she says waving her hands, "But why."

"Because we have a fully grown Nevermore off in that direction," I say pointing south, "and I don't want to die."

"Oh shit," she says looking off into the distance I pointed, squinting her eyes trying to make out the dark creature of Grimm in the night sky.

"I don't see anything," she says after several seconds of looking.

I step next to her and squinting my eyes I can barely make out the creature, "That's because you're not a faunus," I say plainly.

"Should I be insulted?" she jokes looking at me.

I groan and half-shout, "Can you listen to me for a moment? I can see a Nevermore off in that direction, and as I said, I don't want to die, so can I please just light the flare."

"Well lets just wait and maybe it won't even see us and, if it doesn't, then I'm going back to sleep," she replies looking me straight in the eye.

"And if it does?" I interrogate.

"Then we light the flare."

Begrudgingly I accept her point and we pack up our little belongings and start to hide among the trees, hoping that the Nevermore will just ignore us.

I guess we weren't hiding our emotions enough, because as it nears us, it releases a horde of feathers which come bearing down at us.

"Won't notice us, eh?" I question Ama, who glares at me in response.

"Oh fuck you," she groans as she pulls her great axe from behind her back.

While I crouch behind a tree holding my sword out in front of me, Ama steps out into the open, as the barrage of feathers are being hurled towards us.

With not enough time to tell her to get back, I only watch in moderate surprise as she swings her overly large great axe, cleaving one of the feathers in two, while it was mid air.

"Can you light the flare now?" I ask, walking over to her as the Nevermore circles around for another attacking run.

She fumbles with it for a couple seconds, as I watch her getting increasingly paranoid by the second, "what's taking you so long," I groan.

"I never learned to use one," she grits shoving the thing in my chest, "here you light it."

I grab the cap from my pocket and use it to light the flare, the damn thing almost blinding me in contrast to the night.

"Congrats," Ama says sarcastically, "You just attracted every Grimm in a 2 mile radius."

"Well you would've done the same, except I can actually light a flare," I counter.

"Well I'm sorry I never attended Mountain Academy," she grits through her teeth, "I'm sorry I never had as much as you."

I'm about to counter with my secret weapon of being an orphan, but on seeing the Nevermore approach from the distance, I just say, "Let's survive now, so we can argue later."

"We can at least agree on that," I hear Ama whisper from under her breath.

We slowly take steps back, increasing the distance marginally as I ask, "Do you have any plan?"

"Survive."

I'm about to spit back a sarcastic counter but instead bite my lip instead, realizing that it doesn't help us in the situation.

The Nevermore this time comes down low to the ground, cleaving through the treeline, cutting a large gash in the earth, the large beast looking larger than ever.

Ama and I split up as I dive to the right while she runs off to the left.

I walk over to Ama, while she looks calculatingly off into the distance, "I have a plan," she mutters as I walk up to her.

"What now?" I ask in reply.

"Get it to do the same thing," she says simply.

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?"

"I don't know," she orders, "annoy it, make yourself a large target, invite it to a poker night. Just get it done."

Before I can even reply she runs off into the distance, leaving me standing here in the large gash the Nevermore had just created.

I glance in the direction Ama left, before returning my eyes to the Nevermore, which was just starting its return.

Switching my gauntlet to the armor piercing bolts I launch it into the air, less of an offensive move, but more as a distraction, as the things were set to go off after several seconds without making contact.

And sure enough they explode into the night sky, creating firework-esque explosions that I would have admired if it weren't the situation.

Grabbing the flare on the ground I hold it above my head and start jumping around like a headless chicken hoping the Nevermore will decide to attack me again.

Not knowing if what I have done is enough I start shouting, "Come at me you piece of shit!"

Grabbing a stray piece of wood next to me I throw it at the Nevermore continually screaming, "Eat oak bitch!"

I have no idea what I'm doing.

Whatever I was doing somehow convinced the Nevermore to do the same thing, as it lowers down into the same gash that it had just created opening its mouth and letting out a ear piercing screech.

Waiting till the last second I can briefly see Ama explode off into the sky, using the recoil of anti-material rifle as a boost as well as the explosion from the explosive rounds.

Just as the Nevermore is getting to the point that I can't dodge the attack, I roll off into the side breaking into a sprint as I watch Ama from below.

In the sky I can see Ama lineup a shot, firing her anti-material rifle into the air, using the recoil to send her flying down straight into the path of the Nevermore.

Transforming her weapon mid-fall she holds it above her head, as her path starts intersecting with the approaching Nevermore's.

Swinging at the last moment, the slams right into the neck of the Nevermore, and as if she was a living missile, the largest explosion I had ever seen resounds out of the neck of the nevermore, sending a shockwave flying out in all directions, the entire forest seeming to quiet down for a second.

As if it was a marionette with its strings cut, the nevermore is sent tumbling into the ground, going head over heels, Ama flying off of it as it does so, landing close to me.

Ama tumbles onto the ground groaning in the process while I approach her, but as I approach she locks eyes with me and glances over to the downed Nevermore giving me an invisible command.

Nodding to show her I understand, I run over to the still tumbling Nevermore, charging up a bolt of electricity in my hand, all while I run over there.

The Nevermore some how seeing my approach sends feathers flying at me with one of its broken wings, as I reactively slide on the ground, holding out my sword in case any of them hit me.

Luckily they don't.

The Nevermore still having a single trick up its sleeve, then lunges at me with its mouth, with the intent to bite me in half.

Partially expecting that I jump over it, releasing all the built up energy in my hand below me, more energy than I can remember building up in recent years, imagining the bolt of lightning striking down the Nevermore.

And as if some god saw my image, an enormous bolt of lightning strikes down from the sky exactly where I was aiming, sending a resounding shockwave echoing off into the distance, nearly knocking me off my feet, and creating a ringing sound in my ears.

I blink a couple of times, not expecting that to have happened, and surprised at my ability to even have done so.

Not quite believing what had just happened, I cautiously climb on top of the Nevermore and to the spot where the lightning struck, only to see a large crater on its flesh, with red embers along the edges, and black cauterized flesh on the inside, the Nevermore starting to fade away moments later.

As I jump off I can see Ama walk up to me from the gash, with a large smile on her face, "Did you know you could even do that?"

"I… I guess," I reply unconvincingly, "I didn't know if I could do it, although I did think it was possible to do."

And it's at that moment do I realize how exhausted I actually am, as I sit down along the bank of the large valley that was created, letting my head rest against the dirt as Ama comes and sits next to me.

We remain silent as we go over what just happened, until I hear Ama start laughing like a madman from beside me, "We just defeated a FUCKING NEVERMORE!"

She jumps up and pumps her fist into the air enthusiastically.

I let out a bark of laughter enjoying her happiness, "We did indeed."

She's about to say something else, when we both hear the sound of bullhead approaching from off in the distance, hopefully having seen our flare.

"About time," I mutter from under my breath.

"We have one hell of a story to tell," Ama says looking at me with a large grin.

* * *

That bullhead was there to take us back luckily enough.

They didn't really say much on the way back, not that I really wanted to talk much. I was hungry, thirsty, tired, and exhausted. At that point all I wanted to do was just go to a bed and forget what happened.

They did at least provide saltine crackers and water, and while it wasn't the most comfortable thing, I was able to get a small nap in the seat.

Still, once I arrive back I am told to head to one of the offices on the second floor.

Did I forget to tell you that this is still in the middle of the night?

Because it is, and did I tell you how tired I am?

Because I am.

Nonetheless I squeak open the door and peek in, to see a woman sitting at a desk, looking at me expectantly with a smile on her face.

"Ah, Caerus Ferrum, please come in," she says standing up and gesturing to a chair in front of her desk.

I cautiously walk in, shutting the door silently behind me, as I look at her face.

Overall she seems very friendly and young, probably only in her late 20's, with brunette hair that is made into a tight bun, and green eyes.

Despite it being in the middle of the night, she seems completely awake and unaware of the time it is.

God damn vampires.

"I would like to commemorate you on defeating a Nevermore, especially as a freshman," she says motioning to the chair for me to sit down.

"Wait," I say pausing for a second, "You knew about that?"

She nods, "of course I did. You weren't ever actually in danger there."

I finally sit down and ask curiously, "What do you mean?"

"Let me first introduce myself, my name is Alane Roux, assistant head of Information in the Atlesian military divison, and head of student management in Atlas Academy," she says friendly.

"Okay…" I say, "But why am I here?"

"Let me ask you a question," she says smiling, "I'm guessing whenever you think of Atlas Academy, you think of battle hardened soldiers with no emotions, and lives that are worth less than the clock on your wall."

I reluctantly nod.

"Well," she says continuing, "While that does help diplomatically, slightly. That is not an idea we like to keep going. We do value the lives of our students, and we are aware that you have lives to live, outside of being a huntsmen."

She stands up and looks outside a window into some courtyard, "the one thing we are taught before becoming a teacher in Atlas, is that, we should under no circumstances risk the life of a student."

She looks at me, "We do not risk the lives of our students, and we won't, for as long as we can."

"So…"I say asking, "what was that test about then?"

"It was to put you outside your comfort zone," Alane says turning back to me, "we want to see what our students are like when they don't have much to work with. We want to see how you react to dangerous or unnerving circumstances. Nice job finding out about the fake corpse by the way."

"What about the Grimm and the Nevermore then?"

"Any Grimm you fought was allowed to reach you, the first 7 was just to test you. The next 2 was to see how you would react when hungry and tired. And then the Nevermore was more of circumstances, and we just wanted to see how you would react that."

"So, you just assumed that we would win?"

"No offence, but of course not. We had mobile artillery trained at it from half a mile away, and three fully armed Bullheads if needed. If we thought you were actually in danger, then the Nevermore would actually be dead."

"Okay…" I say thinking about what she just said, "So, is every first year student out there, or are you doing them in pairs?"

She looks out the window again then says, "We send two pairs out at a time, for two days each. That is, if they aren't in any serious danger."

"So I was one of the first pairs?" I then ask, a little bit of excitement building up at that prospect.

"Yes you were," she replies smiling in return, "remember 11 years ago, right after you had been attacked in those same woods?"

"Yeah," I reply meekly.

"And remember how General Ironwood came to visit you that next day?"

"Yeah," I say slightly surprised at the fact she knew that

"Well we never forgot about you, we've been keeping tabs on you this entire time, checking how you are doing in school, and providing extra resources in order to help you, and because of that we knew you enough to trust that you would survive when we sent you in first," she informs amicably.

She looks at me expectantly expecting another question while I squirm a bit at the thought of my next words, "So…" I stammer slightly, "did I make it?"

She lets outs a short laugh at that, "You made it when we sent you the letter saying you got in. This is not a test to see if we want you or not, this is a test to see what strengths and weaknesses you have. You don't need to worry."

"So, what's next then?" I ask.

"You'll be free to do whatever you want, provided that you don't tell anyone who has not done the test what it is," she tells me, "that is of course until everyone finishes their test, then we'll put you into teams, and then you'll actually start your lessons."

"Do you have anymore questions," she asks friendly.

"I don't think so," I reply racking my mind for any potential questions.

"Well then you're free to go," Alane says, "your quarters are on the third floor in room 34, your scroll is already keyed to the lock. Hope you don't mind sharing a room with Amaranth."

"I don't," I reply simply.

"Good. For food, cafeteria is on the first floor, check your map on your scroll if you can't find it. Serving times are again sent to your scroll, and food will be free while you are here. If you are still hungry beyond serving times, you are welcome to head out for food, which you will have to pay with your own money, or you can eat some prepackaged food we keep in storage."

She pauses for a second, to which I nod her to continue a second later, "If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

"Thank you, I say," as I walk out the door, and into the dimly-lit hallways.

"And Caerus," Alane says, as I turn to face her, "Welcome to Atlas Academy."

* * *

 **This chapter kinda happened.**

 **Again, this is very storybook-esque, and kinda follows the first initiation in RWBY. Which I also rewatched for this, and I forgot how fun it was to watch RWBY. Anyways, yes it is similar, and you could even accuse of it being a copy, yet I tried adding some Atlesian spice to it in a way, so I hope you like it.**

 **After the teams get sorted together, I'm probably going to speed through the first couple years in Atlas, just getting some plot points I want, aside, and hopefully move to the points of the original plot of RWBY, soon enough.**

 **Also, I have a small question for you guys. TheMysteriousOtaku said how Caerus could put a grappling hook on his gauntlet, and use, for well, grappling. That is an idea I've had for a while, although it would seem to be copying the weapon of another SI-OC, named "RWBY Reckoning" which is a good story I definitely recommend you read.**

 **Do you think that is copying it too much? Or are you guys up for that?**

 **Furthermore, bwburke94 put out an interesting theory for my story, I'm unsure if I want to respond to it, out of fear of giving anything away. So as a future reference, if you have any theories that you want to be answered in any way, PM me asking.**

 **Anyways, I think that is all I have for this AN. Thanks again for reading this story, and I'll see you guys next chapter.**

 **Till next time.**

 **P.S. Part of the reason why this chapter took so long as I went through the entire story and re-did some of the previous chapters and updated the chapter names and the description of the story. I did not change any important information in the story, and if you are returning to the story I don't advise that you should go back and re-read the story again, as there is nothing groundbreakingly new, but I thought this is some information y'all deserve to know.**


	13. Chapter 13

So… the initiation happened several minutes ago. It was a bit different from the one that I saw at Beacon since we all started out on the podium and were called out in teams, in which we then sat down in the crowd. But all in all, it was fun, in a sense.

I mean, it's fun in the sense of like 'Whoo hoo, I'm officially going to be part of a huntsmen team, with possibly new people, while we galavant on long and arduous adventures with them, to most likely to premature death,' kind of fun.

But not as much, long story short, I'm on team ARCN or team Archon, led by Amaranth Mars, and manned by Ray Smoke, Caerus Ferrum, and Nicole Skies. With me being paired up with Amaranth, and Ray and Nicole being in a pair as well.

I mean it's cool and all, two of the three people I get on my team I know to some extent, which is probably purposeful from the higher ups in Atlas for some psychological and motivating reason, which, again, is cool and all.

Still, team _Archon_.

…

Our first mission must be to construct additional pylons.

But poorly referenced Starcraft quotes aside, at least I get to be with people I know, well… I know most of them. I mean Ray is practically my best friend since Jae left, I met Amaranth on our training, but that just leaves Nicole. The odd one out, the weak link of the chain, the sacrifice to the gods…

I'll stop there.

We still have a couple of days till school actually starts most likely for the new teams to get to know each other and all that jazz.

Still, I'm happy enough that Ray is on my team, despite the fact that he is so socially awkward and… well just awkward, and while I will never admit it in front of him, he's not the best at fighting. Amaranth, or Ama, is generally in the same boat, although I don't quite know her enough to make a sound decision, but, based off of first impressions she seems fun enough, and I think I'll enjoy having her on my team. And again I don't know Nicole.

At the same time, like every school year, I dread for the year to actually start, yet for different reasons than you may think.

Think of it this way, for most of my second life I have effectively been procrastinating through the events of RWBY. I know what, when and where most situations are going to happen, but having over 10, and almost 20 years to wait I've pretty much not been doing much besides keeping myself happy and just preparing for when I do have to start dealing with the events.

But now, like that 4-year-old child you accidentally waved at, the events of RWBY are coming up, faster than I would have liked, and that means, soon enough I will have to start actually changing things.

That raises a singular question in my head. Who can I trust with my information?

I feel like I can trust Jae, as he already knows my secret, but the information is something I'm more willing to tell in person than over text or phone call. Ray… I trust him, but I feel that he is a bit too clumsy and careless, although I don't quite trust myself either. Ama and this so called Nicole are off the list.

That leaves one main choice, General Ironwood. Yet, knowing what he did in RWBY I'm scared to tell him. Hell if I remember correctly he was the newest member of Ozpin's Secret Council of the Round Table, so how could I even know if he's in it right now?

Even then how would he react to it, the worst possible situation is that he accuses me of being a traitor and locks me up never to see the light of day again to which I'd be subject to morally questionable information gathering techniques. While the best case scenario is that he actually listens to me.

But even then, knowing how headstrong he is, what are the chances that the best chance scenario would happen. I just can't trust him to listen and let me work.

But then that raises the question of what happens to Amber? I mean, I sure as hell want to save her, yet I don't know when she gets attacked. Hell, she could have been attacked years ago. And if she hasn't, it is something I need to prevent, yet I already said I don't quite trust Ironwood with this information. So who do I tell?

…

Ozpin maybe? But how would I contact him?

Maybe I am just overthinking this. Two years is a long time, and a lot can happen over that period.

Hell initiation isn't over yet, and I'm already worrying about this stuff.

* * *

"Hey, Nicole" I half shout, turning some heads my direction as I push myself past some people worming my way through the crowd and towards my recipient. Having spotted her after we left the auditorium in Atlas, having gone in there for some speech and preparations for the school year.

A red-haired girl turns from in front of me and steps to the side letting me walk up, "I never got to say hi," I mutter walking up to her and holding out my hand.

"Well, hi," Nicole says turning to face me for a second before continuing walking off leaving me standing there for a bit a bit surprised at how fast she was to shut me down.

Well, that was interesting.

"Do you wanna talk or something?" I ask Nicole again walking up behind her.

She turns back around with a blank and tired expression and sarcastically quips, "Yes, because I joined Atlas Academy to talk about my past and my hopes for the future," she pauses for a second, "I think I'll pass."

And then she just walks off, leaving me there.

Well then.

I mean that's kind of a dick move, she could have at least acted like she could have cared, but if anything she does seem exhausted, she has black marks under her eyes, her entire body is slumped over slightly and her footsteps are forceful and barbaric to an extent, almost as if she is a child just learning to walk.

Her red hair is in a mess and her eyes almost look like they belong on a 70-year-old woman who has dementia.

So I just stand there, slightly dumbfounded, as Nicole walks off to the shared room probably to go to sleep or something along those lines if her exhaustion is anything to guess by.

As stated we still have several days until school actually starts which will give me time, to hopefully get to know Nicole, or at least become on speaking terms, as for first introductions I probably got an F- and a question of my mental capacity.

But still, in the end, her dismissal kind of surprised me. Part of me had always thought that in order to acquaint yourself with someone you just had to put on a smile and talk amicably. And for the longest time that indeed did work.

I suppose it was bound to not work on everyone.

I return to the world from the realm of my thought only to realize that the previous crowd has thinned out massively. Now there are only a group of kids who walk together in a small group, most likely a newly introduced team, a couple of girls sitting against the wall and talking silently and a tall boy leaning against a corner and doing something on his scroll.

Shaking my head to clear out any remaining thoughts I wander my way back to my room, having just realized how late at night it is and realizing I should at least get some sleep.

Half way back I remember that I got a newly assigned team room and change course checking my scroll for directions as I don't quite know the layout of Atlas Academy yet.

At this point in the night, the halls of Atlas were eerily quiet with the curfew quickly approaching, the only noticeable noise in the hallways was the rumbling of the occasional air conditioner and the passing by conversations of a team from their appointed room.

Reaching my team room I wave my scroll in front of the red lock, which clicks and turns green twisting the handle and walking in.

I blink a couple of times at how dark it is, glancing around the room.

It is a dimly lit room with a couple of lamps on that illuminate a large couch in the middle of the room that faces away from me, with a nightstand next to it, and a television placed in front of the wall. On the opposite side of the room is a large window gazing over some small hills and a distant Atlas.

At each corner of the room, there is also 4 separate doors which I guess lead to individual bedrooms.

"Hey, Caerus!" I hear a voice say, Ama popping up from behind the couch, scaring the living hell out of me.

"What the…" I yell, quickly switching into a harsh whisper after realizing who it is "Ama! What the hell were you doing?"

She sits up on the couch leaning forward against the back of the couch, "I was waiting for you, just wanted to talk a bit."

"Okay, I guess," I muttered walking over to the couch, as I run my fingers against the walls feeling a bit of dust pick up, "What did you want to talk about."

"Well, as official captain of team Archon," she starts with a drill sergeant-esque voice, "I want to make sure that you know that you're subservient to me in every way possible."

"I think I'll pass."

"And that's why I'm doing exactly that," She says rubbing the back of her neck with a small laugh, "But honestly, I just wanted to get to know all my teammates."

"Don't you already know me?" I ask sitting down next to her on the couch, enjoying the relaxing feeling of me sinking into the soft couch.

She shrugs, "we know each other as acquaintances, and well, we're partners so we should get to know each other a bit more."

I nod slightly feeling a sudden sleepiness come over me, letting out a short yawn, "good enough, I'm then assuming you met everyone else?"

"Mm hmm," she hums in confirmation.

I frown slightly remembering my interaction with Nicole, and how easily she pushed me away, thinking if she did the same with Ama, "Did you meet Nicole?" I ask subsequently looking over to see how she reacts.

Immediately Ama frowns a bit and almost tenses up slightly confirming my reactions, "Guessing she said the same thing to you that she said to me?" I ask as a simple confirmation.

"Yeah, she seems like quite an ass."

I let out a large sigh at that, thinking about potential future team interactions and if she'll hold us back or cause some internal fighting of course not wanting that to happen, "do you think she's just tired or something?" I question.

"Sleepiness doesn't cause assholery," Ama simply replies, "being an asshole does," she pauses for a second as she looks past me in thought, "although from what I've heard she works closely with Ironwood."

"You think she's a spy or something?" I ask innocently.

"Yes," Ama replies sarcastically, "because Atlas Academy is the HQ of deceit and lies."

"Hey, I'm just asking questions."

"Yeah, well, I think it would be better if you would stop that," she jokes, she pauses and repositions herself to look me closer in the eye, "But do you think she has any dirty secrets or something like that?"

I frown mentally at that, because while I have no qualms about talking about someone, I never really was the person to enjoy gossiping, having been at the back hand of it more than once, both in my previous life and my one in Remnant. And in my attempt to be a good person, to further boost my ego, I simply just shrug and mutter, "I think everyone has their own deep and dark secrets."

"Well, what's yours," Ama asks with combined humor and seriousness.

"I'm secretly a faunus."

"Oh shit!" she says with a fake exclamation, "How did I never notice!"

"It's closely guarded."

"Like your virginity?" Ama says with the biggest shit-eating grin I've seen in a while.

…

Oh dear fucking god.

I bite my lip and fidget madly fiddling with my hands as Ama laughs violently, almost falling off of the couch, I desperately try coming up with some sort of comeback, but in the end, I only start up with, "That was…"

"I'm so sorry," Ama says between mad gasps of breath, "I just had to."

I suppose teenagers will be teenagers.

But that was… amusing, at least.

We both remain silent for a brief second, which I take to relax and try to forget what Ama just said, the room feeling a lot warmer and homey than it did before.

"Oh," Ama says suddenly surprising me a bit, "did you meet Ray?"

"Oh yeah," I reply casually, "we're good friends."

"Wait…" Ama starts looking at me, "wait for what?"

"We've been friends for several years," I reply enjoying the look of surprise on Ama's face.

"Wait… what?"

* * *

One last visit to the nether realm.

Don't ask me why I want to visit it again, since last time I went there I was branded with some unknown mark, but I'm curious as there's so much there I don't quite yet understand.

Yet it is the same as I remembered it, yet this time there is no orb. The only difference? There is Grimm prowling along every corner of the world. Be it the rolling monotone fields, the red forest in the distance, or the gray streets of the city. But their black outline is clearly visible among each location, the variety of beasts making themselves extremely visible.

At any other situation I would have fought them, upheld my role as a huntsmen and kill as many of them as possible, but at the moment I lack a weapon… and well… what is there in this world to defend? The closest thing is the mystery person, and if they have survived this long then I won't make a difference, and if they haven't…

That's another situation.

I hold my hand to my eye examining the mark yet again. I had almost forgotten about it. Ever since I had gotten it I had passed it off as a tattoo to those who asked, and left it at that to the point in which even I forgot it wasn't.

It wasn't until I physically traveled here in which it glowed did I finally be reminded about its existence, and yet once again reminding me of how harsh life is, and how harsh it will be.

Currently, I am sitting a bit up the crumbling tower in the center of the city watching over everything else, the world looking like a monochromatic version of a plain, with little to no living things.

The orb… well like I said it had disappeared and as far as I know, it is in the hands of the mystery person whom I will never see. So for the time being that is out of the equation, unless I find any clues. So I don't really have a reason to be here anymore.

Standing up from my little ledge I let the stale air brush past me again, and probably for the last time for a while, and hold out my right hand in front of me as I watch the mark glow a luminescent orange color as a portal opens in front of me.

Sparing no time I step through and with a flick of the hand let the portal disappear from behind me, leaving myself in the bathroom in the dorm in which I reside.

I look out the window as the moonlight filters through and into the night sky reminding me that I had traveled to the nether realm in the middle of the night and that I should probably get some sleep.

 **Knock Knock Knock**

I jump back slightly nearly knocking someone's toothbrush off the sink and nearly falling into the toilet "Caerus what you doin' in there?" I hear Ama whisper silently from behind the door.

"Uh," I mutter rebalancing myself after saving myself from having to pay for another toilet, "Using the… toothbrush."

* * *

There is still a day until class actually starts.

In the meantime I really haven't been doing much, I've felt too lethargic recently, I haven't really had the will to do anything. I suppose I could pass that up to living in a new place, where it isn't nearly as comfortable as before, but at the same time, I would partially be lying if I were to say that.

At the moment I am sitting on the windowsill, resting one of my arms on me knee, which is propped up against the wall, and the other by my side, as I watch Atlas from my perch, watching everyone move around like little ants on the ground, the drab colors of Atlas feeling ever more strong.

As stated I partially just think that the weight of the future is coming down upon me now. It's not exactly like I haven't dealt with this before, I've had moments in which I've gone through this, but every time I came out feeling fine, but…

Crossing worlds is never a happy thing.

I wish I could say I've gotten over it, I really do. I wish I could say I've put my previous friends and family behind me, but that would just feel like I'm betraying them.

Think about it, think of the most loved person you have in your world right now, a person who you know would give your life for you, think about all the good they've brought you, think about how their very happiness is tied with yours, and how you would do anything for them, just so that they could be happy.

And then they are gone.

You left them behind, everything you've worked for, everyone you've loved, everything you grew attached to, everything you've known. Everything for as long as you can remember is just gone. Your entire existence up and until that point was just meaningless.

I suppose though… that's a philosophical discussion.

But as much as I probably sound like a broken record, you only wish you could have gotten to say goodbyes. Or at least to see them one last time, where I could tell them all the things I want them to know, and that in the end, I do care about them.

As in the end, my family is all I wanted to see before I left them.

Maybe I should stop thinking about this.

"Hey dude," Ray says opening the door to which I lazily twist my head to look, "Amaranth and I are going out to get some lunch, you wanna come with us?"

I pause for a second thinking about whether or not I want to stay here and sulk, before I plaster on a faux smile, bite my lip and reply, "Sure, just give me a minute to get ready."

"Coolio," he simply replies, "message me when you're ready," and with that he closes the door, leaving me to watch it for a couple of seconds.

Once I'm certain he's not coming back I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, counting down from 5 in my head.

I then stand up and walk over to my area, going to grab my shoes, but before I do that I take one last second to look out the window and to the streets, enjoying seeing the little tidbits of life going on outside, be it a little traffic jam at an intersection, or a large group of people marching through a park all of them playing some instrument, or even the couple that walks along the streets pointing at nearby shops.

It's the little things.

* * *

 **Here's a little side note. When I had developed Ray as a character I knew that he was originally going to be on a team with Caerus, the only problem is that I wasn't thinking about a team name when I created Caerus or Ray, which in the end created a bit of trouble with team names since I both had to incorporate R and C.**

 **Hence team ARCN. The only other idea I had was team CRLN (Cerulean), and while that would make more sense, Caerus would be the team leader, and as much as I would like to think so, Caerus is not leader material, so I had to stick with ARCN.**

 **Now, on a bit more serious note. I've noticed that in the past recent chapters my story growth has plateaued a bit. Now I would love to be able to say that I would write out of love for my story and not out of attention, yet I am not that virtuous. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to stop writing this story anytime soon, as I do want to continue this story, yet at the same time… what do y'all think. Is there anything I can improve on?**

 **And Nicole… FYI this is less important and more just of a 'fun fact'. Nicole has probably gone through the most variations in characters, tied with Ama. In fact, they have gone through the same amount of changes because they were originally the same character, at least until for purposes you will later see, I split them and made them into their own characters.**

 **SOMETHING ELSE! (As if this AN wasn't long enough already) On my profile, I have a poll about if I should write another story, and if I should, which of the ideas, that I would have interest in, should I write. I humbly ask that you spend 10.728 seconds (I'm pulling that number out of my ass), to submit your opinion. As a tangent to this said story would most likely take either less or equal precedence in my efforts in writing. I do have a bit more of a description at the bottom of my profile.**

 **FURTHER MORE!: I have Caerus' team planned out, and have all their backstories and how they evolve in the future, but in trying to make them as complex as possible, I kind of forgot to create other teams, and for the longest while I was planning to just focus on Caerus' team for the majority of the time, however, I was thinking, since I saw this in another FF. If you guys want you can submit characters to me with the possibility of them being referenced or even added onto in the story. This can be from full outlines of a character to just ideas of what you would think would be an interesting character to have included. Since this is kind of new to me, I'm not quite sure of how to have this go, but I feel like I'll figure this out in the end.**

 **Last and kinda least, this chapter is shorter than usual, as it's more of a transition chapter than anything else, signaling that we're moving into the Atlas portion. From here on, the story kind of officially starts.**

 **Review, follow favorite, and spam to that one guy you don't like. FUCK YOU JERRY! (No offense to any Jerry's out there)**

 **Till Next Time**


	14. Chapter 14

I'm not quite sure what wakes me from my sleep, and I doubt I will ever be sure, but one way or another I was awakened from my beauty sleep.

I wasn't exactly having a nightmare, or a good dream, in fact, I can barely even remember the dream I had, something about Antarctica or something along those lines, the point is it isn't anything important unless there is some hidden symbolism in a frozen tundra in the middle of nowhere.

It didn't take me long to notice something was off. In my private room, in the dorm that team ARCN shares, and in the dead of the middle of the night, it was made blistering aware that there is someone else in my room, with their outline being barely visible in the pitch blackness of my dorm room.

Unaware if the mystery figure realized that there was a person in the bed I slept in I slowly moved my way towards the lamp realizing hoping that said mystery figure was just a figment of my imagination.

And with a painfully slow speed, I turn the switch and turn on the lights.

"Mother of fu-" I shout seeing a young man lean over my bed and look right at me with gray eyes.

I briefly consider the situation, realizing that I practically am buck naked with no weapons or tools, which is not a good sign when a random person is in your room in the middle of the night, especially when you attend a huntsmen Academy, a hotspot for murderers and psychopaths.

Still, there is something off about him, his clothes seem drab and way too long, his skin seems pale and sickly like it is from a decaying corpse, and his hair seems dusty and unkempt.

Yet what scares me the most is that on his right hand, which is purposely left resting on my sheets for me to see, I can see the same mark that is on my hand, on his hand, glowing a faint glow, which seems to now outshine the lamp.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here," I talk, loud enough to hopefully wake someone up next to my bedroom without it being obvious.

He looks at me with a smile, before letting out a large grin, as he starts pacing around the bed towards my right side, all, while I keep my left hand under the sheets and charging up a bolt of lighting, need be.

Right as I'm about to ask him the same question he finally opens his mouth and speaks, an equally raspy and equally cordial voice spouting out, "I'm here because someone wronged me, and I believe we could both have an equal distaste towards that person."

"So you come to me in the middle of the night while I am naked."

He shrugs indifferently, "it was a matter of when I could meet you," he then looks back at me seriously, "Still, I'm sure you are aware of the Grimm that prowl The After."

The After. The After. I don't think I've ever heard that before… could that be the name for the nether realm? Possibly, that would make the most sense. But in that case what would The After mean then? Could it mean after Remnant, or after something else?

I blink a bit and simply reply, "I am aware of the Grimm that prowl Remnant, not the after, and the danger that they pose," trying to imply the idea that I am more focused on Remnant than any alternate dimension.

He seems to get my point as he raises and eyebrow and replies, "You are aware of the danger that Salem poses, and how Beacon will fall to cinders."

…

That… that was unexpected. Could he possibly know? Either that was very unusual word choice and just a coincidence, or he possibly does know, if he does then does he know if I know as well and if that is the case… well, I think you get the point.

Biting down at my lip to hide my surprise I say, "I've never found methods of fortune telling to be reliable in the first place."

"Yet you are aware of other ways of knowing," he says with a grin, implying that he knows the secret, which leaves the question of how.

"Then you are aware of the other realms?"

"I am aware of the realms that are of importance," he says with a smile, seemingly being as vague and unhelpful as possible.

"And how did you become aware of the other realms?"

"The other realms are of little importance to me, what is of importance to me, and what should be of importance to you is The After."

I frown and then ask, "Then what is the importance of 'The After' to you? And why should I be concerned?"

"Because it may be instrumental in taking down The Witch."

I raise an eyebrow at that, but at the same time try to hide it as I continue by asking, "I don't see how The After would prove useful."

"The after has tools, if you will," he starts, "tools that belong to me, and if we work together then we both may then benefit out of this."

"Then why me?"

"Because you are aware, very few people are aware of the After, and only a handful of those people are aware of the Witch, and only a couple of those are aware of the threat she poses, and only one is willing to do something."

Shifting a bit I show my distrust by sarcastically commenting, "I'm assuming, then, in this deal, there's no fine print."

He smiles and says, "You have my word that…"

"Excuse me if I say I don't believe a word you're saying," I interrupt waving a hand to show what I think of his word.

"You have my word that I will work with you to take down Salem," he says, "but…"

I interrupt him by saying, "I'm guessing we've both heard that what comes before the 'but' is bullshit."

His smile grows again as he says, "but you can't reveal our deal to anyone."

So he doesn't want someone to know. The question then is who. Even then, it's still asking me quite a bit to remain secretive, as it's most likely the last thing I want to do, yet taking down Salem is a good outcome, and one way or another I am willing to take the help I can get.

Still, "Why the secrecy?" I ask him.

"You can't trust everyone," he replies.

Could that possibly mean that Salem has a sleeper agent, someone like Cinder, or Tyrian, except a person that I don't know? Or could that mean I have changed things enough to add a new character to the mix, could I have secretly been changing things, or is he part of the things I have changed in the first place.

At the same time, that could be a bluff, or hinting even saying that I shouldn't trust him, and he doesn't in return.

In the end, however, "If you want, I suppose I can cooperate to kill Salem, but…"

"We've both heard that what comes after when you say 'but' is the only thing that matters," he says interrupting me with a mischievous grin.

"I am willing to work with you," I repeat, "however, the problem is, you know about me, and I don't know about you. If we are to work together, a relationship built upon trust is stronger than many other relationships. Do you think not?"

"I think a relationship built upon a common goal could be even stronger, "he replies.

"Yet without knowing you, I can't trust you to have a common goal," I say in turn, eyeing him with visible distrust to show him what I think.

"But you can trust me to do whatever helps me," he says, "which in turn, will help you."

I frown, "Then the thing we can agree upon is that we'll do whatever helps us individually, even if that harms the other person."

"Then that relationship will be quite short lived," he comments.

"Which is what I'm worried about."

Right as I'm about to speak again he interrupts me with the raise of a hand saying, "As much as I've enjoyed our… discussion, I must leave. But, I do hope that we meet again though."

And before I can even ask him when we're going to meet again he waves a hand and opens a portal, stepping through but not before giving me a wink.

Right as he leaves my door bursts open, showing Ama standing there night buck naked, only wearing a bra and short shorts, wielding her disproportionately massive great axe, the large weapon almost cutting into the doorway.

"Who was here?" she half shouts stepping into the room.

Debating whether or not to tell her the truth I simply end up saying, "I don't know, they left before I could ask them anything."

Ama lowers her great axe slightly and walks in the room and asks, "Well, what did they look like then?"

Frowning internally I think about what the mystery man said, and in turn reply, "I'm not sure, they were wearing too much to tell, and their voice was distorted."

If he is going to help me then I might as well see what he has to say.

* * *

You might ask me why I am walking around in the streets of Atlas.

Actually, you most likely would not be asking me that, because I live in Atlas, so asking why I am walking around would be one of the more stupid questions you could ask. But my point is, I'm not walking around to enjoy the sunshine and pollution.

See, a couple of days ago Jae messaged me, out of nowhere, saying to meet up in a coffee shop near the orphanage where we grew up, of course, my natural reaction was, "What the hell? What is going on? Why aren't you in Vacuo," but he didn't reply. But trusting Jae enough, I decided to meet him where he said.

Which is why I am walking through the streets and towards Frostbite Cafe, a large chain mainly centered in Atlas and outlying districts.

Walking through the door I scan the busy shop and spot Jae sitting in the back of the room sipping on a mug of some hot drink, wearing an enormous amount of clothing with a large duffle bag sitting next to him.

I walk up to him and sit down in the chair as he smiles at me, happy to see him yet still curious to why he wanted to see me in the first place. Yet something that quite immediately strikes me is a large wound going from his right ear down to the corner of his mouth.

"I forgot how god damn cold Atlas is," he says rubbing his hands together and taking a sip of his drink.

"I imagine it's quite a change from Vacuo," I reply, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, it is," he mutters, "anyways," he continues shifting a bit and sitting more upright, "how're you doing Caerus? Please don't tell me you became a bitter old Atlas coot while I was gone."

I let out a chuckle remembering his antics yet again, "I'm doing fine, it's just life is happening, and things are changing."

"You're making it sound like there is a war going on," he comments.

"Well there might as well be one," I reply jokingly, "But I'm doing fine, I got my team, whooooo," I cheer halfheartedly, "but they aren't that bad honestly, Ray, erm, that awkward kid you never liked is on my team, and I have some other fun and strong members on my team.

I see him wince when I mention my team, to which I just assume it is the fact that he doesn't like Ray too much, "But honestly, what the hell are you doing here," I continue, "We both know you hate Atlas, and won't Shade Academy be starting up soon?"

Instantly he frowns which seems very uncharacteristic of him, and slumps over slightly, taking another sip of his drink while looking outside through a glass pane, "things went to shit in Shade."

I raise an eyebrow as I ask, "What happened?" concerned about how he's feeling.

He pauses for a second, seemingly debating something internally but then says, "Technically what I'm about to tell you is classified, but fuck it," he says leaning back and looking me in the eye, "my team and I were sent to kill a White Fang officer. He was important enough to be on the radar of Shade, yet he wasn't too important that they needed to send a fully trained huntsman."

I frown knowing that he wouldn't like killing a faunus, much less anyone at all, "I suppose they didn't realize I was a faunus, or they didn't care," he continues, "But nonetheless I didn't complain and we traveled to where we thought he was."

He takes a deep breath and sets his drink to the side seemingly tired of drinking it, "when we found him he was with his wife and child. The girl couldn't have been older than 6, and well… I think the higher ups didn't expect him to be with his family, as they probably would have sent someone who was good at killing."

"Our team became very split," he continues, "this girl, Thistle, she agreed with me, she said we can't kill father and husband. But we weren't the team leader, so one way or another we had to follow the orders."

I remember hearing about this Thistle occasionally through the messages we sent to each other, apparently, she was an extremely sweet girl, milk white hair, a never ending smile, and a compassion to rival Ruby. And while I'm not exactly sure it almost sounded like, in the messages, that he loved her.

"Thistle and I," he shifts slightly as he looks past me in thought, "we decided to leave in the middle of the night. We had moments before in which we didn't like what we were doing, but still did it anyways, I guess this was the last straw," He pauses for a moment, "We were going to come to Atlas, try to lay low, or something along those lines. But our other members found us, and well a fight broke out. Not a physical fight though, just a verbal one. Our leader, Jasper, got very upset at what we were doing."

"I guess we were too loud," he continues, "the little girl came outside and found us. For a brief second I was unsure of what to do, yet I suppose Jasper realized that they couldn't know they were here, so he went for her," he pauses for a second, "I'm still not sure if he went to kill her or just to capture her, but one way or another Thistle wouldn't let it happen and she tried to stop him."

"The girl screamed as loud as she could though, thought it would shatter my eardrums," he says chuckling at that second part, "and soon enough we were surrounded by White Fang members, I guess the officer had a detachment hidden away in case of this happening. I don't exactly remember what happened because I was too confused, but I know that while we were trying to escape our fourth member, Ebony, he was shot through the heart. He died instantly."

He now frowns yet again and I can see him tense up, "Jasper and Ebony were best friends, I still don't know how long they knew each other, but they were as close as close can get, and Jasper went insane after he saw Ebony died, he blamed Thistle and me for it. And before I realized what was going on, he stabbed Thistle through the chest."

I hear him choke up on that, and I can see him clenching his teeth to the point I think they were going to shatter, one way or another though, he takes a deep breath and relaxes forcefully, "At that point, I didn't care about escaping, I just wanted Jasper to die. And well, eventually I got him, but not before I got this," he says motioning to his scar.

He pauses for a bit and looks up at the ceiling and I can see him briefly try to hold back tears, as he breathes heavily, while I just sit near him, trying to be as comforting as possible, "at that point I was done with becoming a huntsman. I was tired of fighting for others who don't care about me."

"And so with my team dead, I came for you," he said, "not to take you away or anything, I just wanted to talk to you. I know you don't care about what I do, hell if I murdered someone I know you'd help me bury him."

I chuckle slightly at what he says and reply, "Not before telling you that your an idiot though, " I think about what he said and ask afterward, "So what happened with the White Fang?"

"Well," he says moving his bag closer to him and starting to unzip it, "I decided that if I'm going to change something, I should do it on my own."

With the bag unzipped I can see a white tint, a very conspicuous white tint that I've seen a bit too often, in a bit too many times. And although I don't exactly want to admit it, I know what it is.

"I see you can tell," he says with a small smile, "I'm going to join the White Fang."

And with that, for a brief second my brain just stops, as I try to comprehend what he just said, "You… you," I stammer trying to gain my bearings back, "Why? Why join the White Fang? There's plenty of better ways to help people! You don't have to continue fighting!"

He laughs a bit as he friendly features return, "The thing I do best is fight, and if I'm going to change people, I might as well start where people need the most guidance."

I open my mouth to say something but he waves a hand shutting my mouth, "Caerus, I'm not going to kill people just because I don't agree with them. I simply want to help the people that need it the most."

"But…" I start.

"We both know that we aren't going to change each other's mind," he says shrugging, "I'm aware of what I'm doing, and I'm fine with it. The only thing I have to lose is you," he says calmly, "and I know you're too stupid to die."

I glare at him, both out of anger and out of humor of what he said before relaxing realizing that in the end, he is right, "You do realize that Atlas is going to come to me and ask me questions," I say both jokingly and serious, "What do you want me to say, that you've gone insane, that you were always insane?"

"Tell them the truth, they won't do anything to you," he says, "and I know they have a stick too far up their ass to do anything about it in the first place."

I frown yet at the same time I realize he is right, and at this point, I also realize that he did come to me, and me alone, as he did want to tell me in person. As much as I don't want to let him do this, I do realize this is premeditated and that in the end, he is right, I'm not going to change his mind, and he's not going to change mine, "Well," I say flexing my fingers slightly, "Before you leave to go join a band of murderous idiots, you wanna do some mid-day shenanigans?"

"Hell yes."

* * *

Today is the first day of school, I won't exactly sugarcoat it, I'm not all that too excited, I'm not one of those people that adore the idea of school, but I don't exactly dislike it either, a Huntsmen Academy is leagues more entertaining than a regular college or highschool.

No more Calculus! I'll take it!

I mean they do expect a certain level of intelligence out of us, just because they want to entertain the idea that they have extremely intelligent and productive people in their schools, which is partially correct, but the point is that I do have a couple of classes dedicated to science, math, and of course history.

Because you know, those who don't learn history are doomed to hear this quote over and over again.

But what I'm trying to say is that… what am I trying to say? Well what I'm trying to get across is that school is staring, and that is cool because you know, it is…

Whatever.

* * *

 **A Couple Days Later**

Well team ARCN is about to do preliminary matches in Atlas. Matches to determine where we are on the leaderboard, our strengths, and weaknesses, and blah, blah, blah.

Basically, this is determining how much bragging rights you have over other people, which you know, is deathly important, so today is kind of a big day.

Main problem is that everyone and I mean EVERYONE, is doing their trial matches, with plenty of teams doing 3 or even 4 in one day, so by the end of the day everyone is going to be drop dead tired, and even then we'll most likely have to do it again the next day due to how long it takes.

But still everyone is excited, we didn't exactly come to Atlas to drink tea and write poetry.

I'm shaken out of my thoughts by a round of cheering coming up as team GMNI is beat by team STLR with the last member of Gemini being put in the red zone by the two surviving members of Stellar.

You could call this cockfighting, but we wouldn't care.

Seeing Ama stand up I walk over to her as she walks to the side of the arena where our weapons and armor are stored, seeing that Nicole and Ray are already over there talking a bit.

"You ready to kick some ass?" Ama asks as I near the lockers.

"I'm ready to not get my ass kicked, if that's what you are asking," I reply punching in the code for my locker, swinging the door open to reveal my armor and weapons.

Every since team ARCN formed Ray and Ama decided that it is upon them to get me some actual formal armor since previously I would just wear some makeshift armor made out of clothes that seemed relatively tough.

It's nothing special, compared to everyone else's on my team, but I still like it nonetheless. The main part is a tight fitting large trench coat over a shirt. The trenchcoat is the main attraction with steel cuffs on my wrist for protection, and steel plates hidden in the clothing to provide a bit of more protection.

Along the back lies my symbol which we had made in our room which is an arrow flying through the air with lightning bolts coming out of it and just to add a bit more spice there are blue lines that run through the shirt just to add a bit of oomph.

The pants are nothing spectacular with just pockets and a holster for my sword, and last and kinda least is just boots.

Plain old boots.

Simple as that.

Yep

Like I said though, it's nothing that special compared to everyone else's, I've already stated that Ama wears a full plate mail suit of armor, Ray is a bit more protected than me with a bit more steel plates and layers of clothing, with a large jacket over his body and a helmet which covers his face and supposedly provides a bit of tactical information.

One of those fancy ass suits of armor that probably costs more than everything I own.

Nicole is the least armored individual out of all of us, simply wearing a long flowing black garment and hood with one of those plague doctor face masks that look like a bird. Still, a very unnoticeable, yet very important thing is a bandolier that runs across her chest, that carries these spherical sized orbs.

She probably has the coolest armor set out of all of us, tied with Ama.

Flexing my fingers to make sure that the gauntlet fits correctly I walk over to the entrance of the arena, waiting for everyone else to finish preparations.

Ray's the first one and I can see him twitching nervously as he walks up to the arena, seemingly dreading the idea of a fight, "You'll do fine," Ama says walking up and patting Ray on the back, seemingly also seeing his trepidation, Ama finishes it off with, "Not sure about grumpy over there though," motioning towards Nicole.

I shrug, "We've planned, if we work together we should all do fine."

"And if we praise the lord then we'll ascend into heaven as well," Nicole says walking over, eliciting a chuckle out of me.

For as unprotected as Nicole is, she wields a small sized claymore, with a sphere sized gap in the hilt that ties in with her semblance.

The claymore transforms into a dagger with a submachine gun coming out of the hilt with the same spherical hole in the center, which she switches to and from quite often.

I glance over at Nicole as she loads a red colored orb into the hole, the blade turning the color a second later.

And with all of our team here the door opens letting us into the arena as I see the opposing team enter as well. Team VCAR.

"I'm sure you know the rules by now," the proctor says looking over us, "But just for clarity sake. You shall not attack a person that has been removed from the match, to get removed you must have your aura be below 20%. If you attack someone below 20% your team is immediately disqualified from the match. The first time to lose all their members gets wiped out and loses the match. Any questions?"

Naturally, there are none as everyone is itching to fight.

"Good, now fight!"

Immediately Ama steps out in front, with me a bit behind her to the side, us two being the two most heavily armored and close range fighters.

The opposing team does a similar maneuver the leading member, being a person with a large great shield, stepping forward, with two other members behind him, and the last member running to the side, not toward us, but away from her team and out of our line of sight.

Ama studies the situation for a brief second before saying, "Caerus, you're in charge of the separate member," Ama says not removing her eyes from the enemy, "keep her busy, Nicole, get them on my go, and Ray… gas em'."

I nod as Ray opens his mouth, breathing out a large wave of a gray gas, the gas speeding towards the enemy, the enemy reacts by changing directions, while I start heading towards the separate member, determined to keep her busy.

In the corner of my eye, I see Ama nod towards Ray, who nods back, twists a nozzle on his flamethrower, and pull the trigger, a small burst of flame flying towards the gas cloud.

Watching the enemy with the shield I see him realize what is going on, as he shouts something towards his teammates as they dive towards the side as the gas detonates with the flame, the explosion large enough to almost knock me off my feet as Nicole follows up by throwing one of her orbs, a brown swirling orb which detonates on the floor, cracking the floor and sending the enemy team tumbling.

And there's first blood.

Nicole's semblance, which I had just found out recently, is the ability to make these little vials, or in this case flasks, full of a special concoction made out of dust which has varying results depending on what she used. In that case, it was earth dust.

Still, with the fight now completely having broken out I sprint towards the enemy I was designated, using her moment of distraction of the explosion to send out a lightning bolt, the bolt striking her arm as she twists towards me and raises her dagger in preparation to fight.

Not wanting to get too far away from my team I stop and fire an explosive bolt, the girl dodging out of the path at the last second… and turning invisible in the process.

Surprised at that maneuver I take a few steps back as I try to figure out what to do, as I hear the enemy captain yell, "Cutthroat!" A move obviously designated towards the member I'm fighting.

Reacting to that I fire a smoke bolt into the ground in front of me, jumping back right as it detonates trying to use the distraction as a method of gaining time to figure out what to do.

I don't have any time as I see the smoke shift in front of me, barely raising my blade to stop an overhead swing from the girl.

But what I don't block is another dagger, which she uses to stab at me with her other hand, the blade gashing at my belly, causing my stomach to twist in pain.

Raising my knee, I hit her outstretched hand with my knee, knocking it up and grabbing it with my gauntleted hand, for a brief second I see her eyes widen as I send a constant stream of electricity through my gauntleted hand, seeing her grit her teeth in pain.

That goes on for about a second until she finally twists the arm with the sword in a way I didn't expect, hitting me right in the nose with her elbow.

I stumble back a bit as I make sure my nose is okay, not seeing the other enemy who lines up a shot with a sniper from the other side of the arena hitting me right in the chest sending me stumbling back even further.

"Nick," I hear Ama shout, using the nickname she gave Nicole, "Save Caerus' ass."

Glancing over at Nicole's direction I see her nod as she swings her blade at the floor, the orange blade igniting on contact and sending a stream of fire towards the sniper, the orange orb in the center of her claymore dimming slightly.

Turning my attention back to my opponent only to realize that she has disappeared again.

For fuck's sake.

I step back towards the smoke hoping to use it again, only to realize that has mostly dissipated at this point, removing my cover.

Hunching over I try a separate technique, releasing a bolt of electricity in a sphere around me, seeing the stray lightning bolts grab onto an invisible human being.

Found you.

I fire in her direction with an electrically charged bolt, the bolt itself missing, but the electricity grabbing onto her yet again, as I rush forward and stab with my sword where I think she is.

My sword only hits the air, but I see a scuffle on the ground to my left, so I twist and swing my arm in that direction this time my gauntleted wrist coming into contact with something, as I feel the shock of my arm hitting bone.

I'm about to continue with my attack until I hear Ama yell, "Shock and awe!"

That's my queue

Turning over to her I see her rushing over at the shielded member who is protecting his ally from Nicole, while Ray deals with the final member of VCAR, his flamethrower having turned into the automated turret while he, with the turret, barrage the last member with bullets who shields himself with a large kite shield.

Seeing Ama rush towards the sniper and the shield member I realize who my target is, releasing a bolt of lighting in their direction, my hand numbing from the power I put into it, as I run out of breath almost immediately.

The bolt of lightning does its work though, as it hits both members arcing in between them, stunning them briefly. That's the shock.

Ama then follows up with an overhead slam, hitting the sniper with her great axe, a large explosion resounding out of the impact sending the sniper flying backward.

And there's the awe.

Glancing up at the screen I see that the sniper has dipped down to 16%, well below the 'death limit' quote on quote. So she's out, the second lowest is the member I fought with 45%. Ray's the lowest on our team with 34%.

I glance at Ama, who sees the same thing as she yells, "Aegis! Spear formation!"

I internally nod at that. Aegis is the term for basically regrouping as a team, spear formation being an extension of that meaning that we go on the offensive as a group afterward.

And like that we regroup as the enemy does so as well, as we stare down at each other, waiting for a person to make their own move.

Ama then grins, and whispers at a volume for us to hear, "Let's wrap this up."

* * *

We won that fight, by quite a large margin.

We barely able to prevent anyone on our team from getting DQ'd, although it probably harmed us more than it helped us, as in the end I almost ran out of Aura, guarding Ray against attacks, while it would've helped to go on the offensive.

But I guess we had to show off and say that we can win with all our teammates 'alive', so eh. We're as humble as Cersei is at being kind. Point is, Ama likes to show off, and I don't argue against that.

Still, after a fight, we get a mandatory 1 and a half hours to rest and prepare for our next fight which we take to go and get a snack.

Nothing interesting really happened while we snacked, no food fights like team RWBY, although Ama did throw a banana peel at me because I was bothering her.

But the point is, nothing interesting happened, but I won't lie when I say that at the table we sat at there was almost a buzz of electricity going around. None of us said anything about it, but we all felt it, and we all knew each other felt it.

As we all knew, in terms of our first team fight, we did quite well, and at this point, the year is only beginning.

* * *

 **Hello yet again fellow inmates. This chapter kind of happened, very fast.**

 **First things first, we reached 200 followers! Something, something, something, holy mother of fuck. Still, I feel like no matter what I type it will partially come across as insensitive and insincere, so I'm going to end with saying that thank you guys too much, and I hope I can live up to the expectations you guys have.**

 **And the first scene was actually really fun to write. Something I'm planning to make itself known is, later on, is deceit and people who are working for themselves, so this is kind of like a practice for when that comes.**

 **Also, based on the poll on my profile, it seems that the answer choice is quite unanimous, but just to make sure I'm going to leave it up until a bit after this chapter comes out. If you don't know what I'm talking about, there is a poll on my profile detailing if I should write another story, and which of the ideas I should write.**

 **Anyways from here on out I think the story will pick up greatly, as with my story approaching the timeline of RWBY, things are going to happen more and more.**

 **Beyond that I don't think I have anything to say, I wish y'all a happy day and I'll see you next time, possibly on a new story.**

 **Laters**


	15. Chapter 15

Classes were… well, what do you expect? They were class-like. I don't really think I need to explain more.

Most of them are relatively uninteresting, if you've been to college, or even most high school classes you would get the gist, walk in, say hi, sit down, take notes until the bell rings, and move onwards.

At least that rule of thumb applies to the intellectual classes. Combat class was a bit more exciting. Although the excitement of fighting other teams to practice and train quickly wore off. Don't get me wrong, it'll always be more fun than sitting in a class all day computing calculus equations and chemical reactions, but I suppose there is almost an irony that something that is viewed as too dangerous and important can be marginally boring.

Maybe I'm just overthinking this.

Something that might surprise you, however, is that in combat class, we don't always fight… crazy, I know? It seems like half, if not more of the time, in combat classes is spent analyzing our fights and theorycrafting other techniques. Not really as exciting, but still just as, if not more helpful, so I can partially understand why that part was never really in the show.

Still, we are the only freshman in Atlas Academy. If Mountain Academy was anything, it was preparation for preparation. So far they haven't really put us in danger, as I don't think they exactly trust us to keep ourselves alive, so most of the time is just spent practicing and learning. Which I don't exactly deny as helpful.

Naturally that has made me wonder when I'll start to do something more exciting, and from the marginal conversations I've had with upperclassmen who have stayed throughout the years I've been able to tell that after the first semester things start picking up, as until then it's more preparation, which, don't get me wrong, is kind of frustrating after the several years at Mountain. Helpful, yes, but at the same time frustrating.

As boring as it is though, it isn't easy. History and dust studies, among other classes, are quite difficult and do require a fair bit of nights in which I get little sleep. Combat class is of course, rigorous, with many people collapsing after fights, being barely unable to walk, if even fight again. It actually reaches the point that every team has a mandatory hour after every fight in which they are not allowed in combat, unless, of course, they are willing.

Of course, with all that, it's difficult. Not impossible, as much as it might feel that way, but difficult. I suppose I may have a bit of practice with college in my previous life, which gives me the much-needed technique of not caring as much, but in the end, it is still time-consuming.

From what I've heard it appears some freshmen have already called it quits, leaving to some very disgruntled teams and a lot of mix matching between unfilled spots. I even remember reading some statistic that by the senior year of Atlas only something like 15% of the original students is left, either because the other ones quit… or because of you know what.

...

ANYWAYS, Atlas Academy likes to do the thing of testing you to your limits to weed out those who aren't fit for being a huntsmen. Which I can partially understand as this isn't exactly a school to become bakers, but at the same time, even those who are quite obviously dedicated and devoted to becoming a huntsmen are still very disgruntled at how rigorous the school is.

So I have a lot to look forward to.

But in the end, being the teenager I am, I still find time to goof around, and head outside to enjoy the bitter cold and biting Atlas weather. Because, you know, Atlas is the Russia of Remnant, in the way in which nature hates you as much as you hate yourself for living there.

Don't you just _love_ life?

* * *

I kick a piece of rock away as I walk down the weathered concrete sidewalk, hands in pocket and hood up as small snoflakes of snow rains down on me.

I glance briefly over to my right, seeing Ama who wears a tank-top and shorts, as I look as if I thought she had disappeared in the second I had looked away.

"You ought to wear something more than just that," I say for the umpteenth time, much to Ama's chagrin.

"As I said the last infinite times you mentioned that, I'll be fine, unlike you I actually know how to deal with the cold," she says with a playful mirth in her voice.

"Famous last words," I mutter a bit quieter taking the second to take my hand out of my pocket and rub my nose which I can barely feel due to the weather.

Ama and I had decided to go on a walk around the Atlas campus, because why not. Nicole and Ray were in classes, and we had nothing better to do, with both of us lacking classes for a time period stretching several hours. Although, as you can quickly see that walk idea has quickly deteriorated with Ama insisting to go in summer clothing despite the frigid temperatures, and it starts to snow, further proving my point that she should not be outside.

I look at her again as she shrugs and opens her arms as if to welcome the winter temperature, making her question how she doesn't have frostbite, "I'm still alive, so statistically I have a 100% survival rate."

"Repeat the previous statement."

We pause for a second as we come to a T-section, with the gymnasium in front of us, and a garden to both sides of us, as we both look at each other for a second before choosing the right side, continuing on our random voyage.

"Weeeeeeellllll," she drawls on pausing for a second to seemingly compose her thoughts, "considering the fact many people who should be dead are still alive, I'll take my chances since I have above average intelligence."

"We just got into Atlas, many of the stupid people you are talking about are either going to quit or aren't going to survive much longer."

"What're you saying?" she questions with a sarcastic edge to her voice, "There are plenty of stupid huntsmen alive, like you, Nicole, Maroon, every teacher at Atlas academy, that one small redheaded class from sparring…"

Letting out a small bark of laughter I jokingly respond, "are you racially profiling me?"

"I, uh…"

"Are you trying to imply that all faunus are stupid?"

"Uh. Literally, everyone else on that list wasn't a faunus. If anything I'm implying that humans are more stupid than faunus."

"Then you admit to being stupid."

Without a pause in conversation she responds with, "No, I admit to knowing what stupid looks like."

"Then you'd know that you're being really stupid right now," I say as we stop and rest on a snow-covered red bench, taking the second to enjoy the harsh weather.

"What I do know is that you're being stupidly annoying about what I'm wearing," she says trying, and failing, to act seriously.

"Again," I say with a cheeky grin, "racial profiling."

"It's not racial profiling if it's true."

I open my mouth to say something but she interrupts me, "And I swear to Oum if you say that the truth is just my opinion I'm going to shove this bench up your ass."

"Well," I say trying to think of something else to say, "I doubt that compared to most people, carping on your clothes is all that annoying."

"Well… fine, you're normal...ish, at least compared to most people. Ray is bordering normal and schizophrenic, and don't get me started on Nicole."

"Really now," I say pushing off some stray snow on the top of my head with my gloved hand, as we stand up from our spot on the bench and continue on our way, "what's so bad with Nicole."

"Oh boy," she exasperates, "Let's see here. She doesn't talk with us at all, outside of fights, she hardly even sleeps in our dorm room, she's not helping manage, or clean the dorm, when we discuss tactics she shoots down almost everything we say without helping, she never comes with us when we go out for a group dinner, and she hardly helps us in classes. Need I go on more?"

"She doesn't talk to us because she's always busy, she doesn't sleep in our dorm because she's up all nights, she's not helping manage the dorm because she hardly even lives there, she doesn't come with us to a group dinner, and doesn't help us in class, well because, yeah she's kind of an ass. And well yeah, she shoots down our tactics. But at the same time, we suggested a kamikaze tactic of running in with completely naked while pretending to be demigods of sex."

"You do realize that is a joke right?"

"No," I respond rolling my eyes, "I've done that numerous times before. And it's a completely viable tactic, along screaming bloody murder like they are an alien who's trying to probe us."

She lets out a half-humorous and half-tired sigh, "I'm just saying that being a huntsmen is not something we can procrastinate forever, and I'd like it if she were to at least act as if she is trying to help us."

We pause for a second under a leafless tree as we take a second to catch our breaths, "I'd give her time though. I mean yeah, it's been a month, and she's kind of an asshole, but Ray seems to get along with her well enough, and she does care about being a huntsmen, at least I think she does."

I go to lean against the tree while Ama just paces around, "Yeah, I guess," she stops for a brief second as I rest against the tree with my arms crossed, "I don't know. There's a lot wrong in the world, and god knows Ironwood, the miserable bastard, is not doing anything about it. And if we're going to be huntsmen to change the world for the better than I'd have hoped that she would at least act a bit more involved."

"Again," I say as I straighten up from my perch walking over to the edge of the canopy, next to Ama, with a sheet of snow falling right in front of, "I'd give it time. As much as I do agree with you, we're still students, let's wait until we can actually change things."

She lets out a deep sigh as she continues on her way, walking back to the dormitory, me starting to follow behind her, and in a quieter voice, one she made just loud enough for me to hear she mutters, "there's too much happening to just wait and let it roll over."

Internally part of me raises a single eyebrow at that, since at the moment in the world there isn't much going on, leading me to have a few suspicions if that there is more than she knows then she lets on, but at the same time I let it metaphorically roll off my shoulders, passing it off as even if she does, she does wish good intentions.

So I merely respond half-sarcastically with, "There's no chance in changing something if you are dead. Which is why I'm saying you should wear more than that."

* * *

"I know you're here," I say for the 11th time, sitting on a chair in my room, looking yet again to the door, "we need to talk."

I sigh partially as nothing happens, causing me to glance at the clock on a desk right next to me and wonder how long it will be until the mystery man from a couple weeks ago shows himself.

After my talk with Ama, thinking about what will possibly happen in the future again, I wanted to talk with him again, as to one, figure out what the hell is going on, and two figure out what he wants to do with Salem.

I guess part of me is still anxious about what is going to happen in the future. As much as I am, and will procrastinate what is going to happen, that intelligent part of me is always nagging to do something, and this is that part winning out.

"I know you're…" I start again only to see the air a foot or two in front of me distort slightly as a new dark shape begins to appear, "about time," I mutter under my breath standing up to face him as he appears.

As he finishes forming I look over him again. His clothes appear to be about the same as last time, long flowing torn robes that appear like something out of a medieval story, with crisscrossing white lines darting to and fro in no discernable pattern. His skin looks as pale as ever as if he's lived his entire life inside a cave, and his entire body just looks unorganized in general.

He lets out a quite obviously overdone smile saying, "It's nice to meet you again."

I frown not having the patience at the moment as I say, "Yeah, yeah, sure. Nice to meet you. As I said we need to talk."

"What about?"

"The nether realm, how you plan on countering Salem, what your role in the nether realm, and who you are in general."

For a minor second, he frowns before returning to his unpleasantly large smile, "I thought we agreed to build a relationship based upon mutual goals? Why the change?"

I continually frown, "Yes, well we both know a relationship like that will implode within a week's time. So," I mutter half-jokingly, "you know about me, why can't it work the other way around."

This time he visibly frowns as he seems to contemplate something for a brief second, the room remaining an eerie silence while he does so, making me wonder if I had possibly gone too far. Yet eventually he waves his hand in a circular arc to the right side of himself, opening up a visible portal.

"Follow me," He says in a demanding tone, walking through the portal and disappearing from the room.

I briefly contemplate how much I can trust him, but seeing not much of a reason for him to betray me at the moment, and believing the idea that if he was going to harm me then there is nothing stopping him from doing it to me while I am in my room, I go to walk through the swirling portal, mentally noting that the mark on my hand started glowing as soon as he opened the portal.

I walk through the portal, the feeling of my insides turning to mush happening yet again, before I return to the nether realm, taking no hesitation to glance around and figure out where the hell I am.

I look to be on the rolling plains, a bit separate area as it seems to be in a relatively low valley, with a small lake in the center. Turning around I see the mystery man standing behind me, with two decaying beowolves lifelessly laying on the floor.

Looking over him I notice that it doesn't even look like he had done anything to kill them, as if they had died merely by his presence, making me wonder how powerful this man actually is.

He briefly acknowledges my presence with a nod of his head and a motioning of his arm indicating for me to follow him before making his way up one of the hills, as I jog a short distance to catch up to him.

"You only perceive me as human because you have no knowledge of what I truly am," he says, his feet digging deep into the ground as he makes his way up the hill, "ever since the creation of this realm, I have existed. To me, it is my home, in the same way, Remnant and Earth are yours."

I raise an eyebrow and open my mouth to speak but he raises his hand telling me to be quiet, which I grudgingly acknowledge, "The Witch, Salem you call her, in a bid of greed, has taken my grasp on this land away from me. And I want it back."

"Hold the fuck up. You know Salem? How the hell did you know her?" I ask, curiosity now eclipsing over my previous hostility.

"There are many like me, Salem being one of them, we are a collection of eldritch beings, with no purpose or guidance besides our own," he mutters as we reach the top of the hill overlooking the towering city.

"Are you telling me that you and Salem are siblings?"

He pauses for a second before answering, "In the same way two wolves are siblings. They both hunt the land, they both want to survive, they both nurture their young, by definition they have the same goals, and they are of the same being. Yet they have no regard for each other, no care, and will even combat each other for what the other has."

"Then how'd you lose to Salem, if you both have equal power?" I ask, a bit cautiously.

He sighs visibly and says, "There is a constant bid for power among us. Some of us want to remain to ourselves, collecting a fringe realm and claiming it as our own. I am one of them. Other ones are power hungry and greedful, with no goal but to gain more power, and no idea of what to do once they have that power. I fought and defeated one of those beings, a nameless child, but I… I wasn't careful enough. Salem, the cunning sorceress she is, subverted me and took what is mine."

"Then why do you want my help," I inquire, "I doubt I can be that much of assistance."

He glances at me a bit and answers, "there is a saying you humans have, 'Knowledge is power'. Very few humans are even aware of the witch herself, even fewer aware of the realm that separates her from us, and only a couple I can think of, who is aware of what is happening in the future."

"You didn't fully answer my question, why me?"

"Everyone else who knows of what is happening is well known among us, Salem, I, and even a handful of other beings know them by name and heart. You, on the other hand, do not exist. Not in the method of you should not be here, which is indeed true, but you haven't revealed yourself to anyone else but me. Salem does know that you exist, but she just doesn't know who you are."

"Hold up," I mutter waving a hand, "you said that I should not be here. And you've said that you know about Earth. So how do you know so much, even to the point that you know what's going to happen to Beacon?"

"Most of what I know I've garnered from your memories…"

"Hold the fuck up," I half-shout taking a step back from him, "Why the actual fuck did you look through my memories? How the fuck am I supposed to trust you if you look through my memories."

He pauses for a second before gesturing at the city in front of me, "When you first arrived here… I was not fully whole, as per my combat with the fledgling being. I had enough mental capacity to know that you weren't from here, so with the limited power I did have, I went through what you knew. Those visions and moments when you first came here, was a by process of examining your memories, which I do apologize for doing so."

"Then what do you know about Earth, it's quite obvious that knowing the plot of RWBY beforehand could be extremely useful, so if you know that much why do you need my help" I ask, hoping I'm not revealing too much, and also hoping that I'm not giving him any ideas on killing me off for being useless.

He sighs for a second, as he starts to make his way down the hill and towards the city, "Earth, as itself is a mystery to me. I was not aware of it until I searched through our memories, and even know I know an extremely little about it," he pauses for a second and looks at me, "see, the human brain is monstrously complex, when I searched through your memories I was devoting all my attention and energy to it, but only got little details, and now, with your brain developing further, even if I were to try to do it again, I doubt I could do so."

"Do you even know how I got here then? I'm assuming you know about my death and rebirth," I ask.

He shakes his head, "I do not. The ability to travel from here to Earth even eludes me. Normally I would deem it impossible, yet you exist, so theoretically there might be a way. I'm even willing to guess that your travel from Earth to Remnant, a monstrous task in and of itself, accustomed your spirit to realm travel which is why you are so adept at it."

I pause for a second as I ask, "Wait… so there are other people who can travel between realms?"

"Yes," he pauses for a second as if thinking carefully about something, "there are… several humans who have been able to rudimentarily travel between them. Although there have been a few humans who have been able to travel with relative ease."

"Do you know any of them?"

"I…" he pauses for a second, "I can't think of any humans. Most of them that can are either dead or in hiding out."

I raise my eyebrow at that prospect either surprised at the fact that he doesn't know any of them, or of the idea that he does know but for some reason, he's hiding who they are from me. Nonetheless, I act as if I agree with that.

But, as we approach the city and the terrain under our feet goes from dirt and gravel to concrete and asphalt, and the rolling hills are replaced with the towering buildings I ask a different question.

"Well," I start asking watching him see how he reacts, "out of curiosity then, what happened to the humans who lived in this city?"

"This realm… was never the safest," he starts motioning towards the dilapidated buildings to show an example, "but the being I fought… it corrupted the world. Ruined it, caused it to go from a towering example of humanities' perseverance to a reminder of the threats humanity faces. It is called 'The After' because it is literally after the corruption. The humans who lived here either eventually died off, or fled to an alternate realm."

"So… there are people in Remnant from here?" I ask remembering what happened a while ago with the person who took the orb.

"Yes, although I don't know where they are," he continues.

As I'm about to continue I hear the Grimm Dragon roar off in the distance, and looking at the beowolves, ursai, and creeps in the distance I ask the question that I pretty much called him to ask.

"Then what is your plan for Salem?" I question, "all this information doesn't help me if I don't know what you want to do."

He stops and turns to me, "At the moment I suggest waiting. You do have knowledge that even I don't have, and I suggest using it. Wait until that knowledge comes to most use, then use it. You are not pressured by time in order to fix this problem so at the moment I suggest waiting."

I frown, "Except I am fucking pressured by time. In case you have the memories of a fucking rock, you know that Beacon is going to fall to Salem. I can't exactly sit around and let it happen."

"I'm not telling you to let it happen. I'm telling you to prepare so that you can effectively counter it when, or even before it happens. There's no use in changing things beforehand if Cinder will just adapt and continue with her plan, this time with you being unaware of what is happening."

"And what will you do," I ask, turning to face him, "If you want me to do all this, you have to do something as well."

"I have lost my solid foothold into both Remnant and the After. The only reason you can see me is that I have awakened your aura towards mine."

"Uh…" I mutter, "What?"

He grabs my right hand causing me to instinctively step backward, but before I can shout in annoyance he motions towards the mark on my hand, "This mark here is my doing. It allows me to contact you, and increases your foothold into this world."

I glance at it second, ignoring the uncomfortable iron grip the mystery man has on my wrist, "So you're the one… that fucking hurt you know?"

He shrugs slightly, "I do apologize, but it was necessary."

As much as I want to try and hold some dislike towards him I am unable to, and in the end, I am only able to sigh deeply at his casual disregard for my comfort. Still, I voice my displeasure, "Necessary my ass, you could've at least asked."

"You would not have agreed."

"That's the fucking point. Don't just force it upon me just because you want to."

He stops for a second and looks me in the eyes, with his own calculating stare. Surprised at the intensity of his stare, I only try to match his intensity by staring back, unsure at what he is thinking about, or even what he's planning to do.

I can't exactly decipher what is going through his head, but that doesn't disallow me from picking up little parts, confusion directed towards something, a subtle almost amusement, and a flowering interest.

"Fine, whatever," I muttered grudgingly pulling my hand from his grip and waving it, "what happened, happened, and that shit. I don't care anymore," I mutter not quite believing myself, "you never answered my question though. What are you going to do to help stop Salem."

"As much as I don't like admitting it there is little I can do at the moment, unless of course, you can get me into close contact with Cinder, or Salem," he says as we approach the center tower of the city, "and even then I doubt there is much I could do at that point."

"So you basically want me to do all the work," I dryly comment trying to sum up what he said.

"You have your friends, Amaranth, Mars, Nicole, and even possibly James Ironwood, make use of them, if I can help you I will, I'm trying to make your job easier."

"Yeah, well you're doing a great fucking job at that, aren't you?"

He stares at me.

"Fine," I exasperate, "I'll stop bitching. Now is there anything else you want to tell me or can I go back to sleep."

"You were the one asking the questions," he says mildly amused.

"Yeah well I'm done with that because I have combat practice tomorrow and I don't want to fall asleep mid-fight, so I'll repeat my previous question, do you have anything else or can I go."

He doesn't say anything as we continue our way into the tower and into the circular marble inside, as he makes his way to the center where the pedestal is that once held the Kael Orb.

"The mark I gave you," he starts causing me to bring it up to my eye and examine it briefly, "it does more than assist you in your travels. It allows as a catalyst for your abilities if you will."

"Meaning…" I say as he takes a second to pause.

"Which means that with the proper practice you can utilize that mark to strengthen yourself…"

"Meaning…" I again continue quite sure I already know the answer.

He grins this time as he says, "Meaning you can improve leaps and bounds further than you would otherwise. Albeit if you are willing to work with me."

Part of me immediately stops at that prospect.

It's quite obvious that he's hiding some things, the malevolence of said things under question. Still, that's a question for another time, as there is a more immediate pressing question at hand. I mean, I could accept his offer, train under him, become ever boring hero ever with some sort of supernatural power. It's really tempting.

But at the same time, he could just be lying, again, to the extent, I don't know. Which, in the end, really does concern me. Every being like him, if he is telling the truth that is, that is generally good at manipulation, and if he is lying… then I already have something to worry about.

Still, it would be cool, and extremely helpful to have his help, as much as I'd like to be confident in myself, I know that there are plenty of much stronger people than me, and plus, who wouldn't want to be like Corvo Attano from Dishonored.

… But in the end… the risks outweigh the gains, so with a moderately heavy heart I turn to him saying, "I'm sorry, but I'm just not ready to try that, maybe later, but at the moment I'm content with myself."

* * *

 **Okay… so this chapter…**

 **First off, like every other chapter I ever wrote. Sorry this took so long, but this time I have a more legitimate excuse… relatively more legitimate. So if you've been keeping track of my AN's then you'd notice that I'm kinda planning to write another story… well, that didn't go as expected. To conserve space I'm most likely going to post a longer note on my profile page, but for the time being know that I'm probably not going to upload another story for a small bit of time.**

 **On the note of why part of this chapter happened. Originally I was going to have a semi-arc dedicated to unravelling the mysteries of the After/Nether realm, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it kind of removed interest away from the main story, and was ultimately unnecessary, and considering the fact this was one of the first things I introduced and I haven't really given any real information on it to this point, I decided why the hell not, I should just give off some of what I have thought about this area.**

 **This chapter is also me trying to practice on my weak points. The last previous few chapters, to me at least, while not bad, were never that good. I had just taken the view of, 'Well I don't hate them so they're good enough', and while I don't think that's a horrible thing, I don't exactly want to continue that. Part of that is because I've never really known on how to improve my weak points, which I believe to be pacing, description, dialogue, and gaining interest. So this chapter was me writing my ass off trying to improve those things. So what do y'all think?**

 **Also happy RWBY Volume 5. I was originally planning to upload this chapter on the release of the first episode, although I wouldn't be able to watch it because I don't have Rooster Teeth first, or whatever it's called, due to laziness and the chapter not being ready, I ultimately postponed it. Not that you really knew about it in the first place… but still. Now I feel like a dick.**

 **Thanks again to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. It does mean a lot.**

 **Till next time.**

 **P.S. Is Nier Automata any good? I'm thinking of getting it, and I'm not sure if I want to.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Email**

 **Composed on November 7, 20xx**

 **Read on November 8, 20xx**

Hey, Caerus, I'm not good with these types of messages but we need to talk. Somethings going on in the White Fang, and I'm not sure but it seems big. I'm talking about civil war big. I don't want to do this by myself, but I'm not going to force you into this if you don't want, so I won't hold it against you if you say no, but I'd like it if you were to at least hear me out before you tell me no. One way or another, wish me luck, shit's going down, and I'd love to see your goofy ass face before I get myself killed.

Your bro, Jae

* * *

I'm guessing you read that and judging from what I'm about to say, I reluctantly agreed.

There were several more conversations between us after that initial email, where he basically joked around slightly and I said the typical, 'I trust you but how do I know you're telling the truth', less out of distrusting him and more of me being a typical asshole who gets giggles out of doing that.

There was still some truth to that statement though, I can't exactly say I trust the White Fang. See, I don't exactly hate him, but when you hear non-stop stories of the White Fang doing things as relatively small as threatening a shop owner to physically holding an important board member to the Schnee dust company hostage, it is hard to view the Jae, who is part of the White Fang, under the best possible light.

Still, he always adamantly insists that it isn't him and that he's doing the best to stop them from doing that, but there is always the little distrustful bit of me that calls, "bullshit".

Me being careful, maybe. Stupid paranoia, definitely.

Although I do feel that I do have some sort of merit in the paranoia, as the address he sent me to meet up is smack dead in the center of the shady part of West Atlas, apparently in some sort of abandoned warehouse. As said this is the 'bad part' of Atlas, and for multiple reasons, gangs, the White Fang, and overall more hostilities between races.

So, as a response, I told him that we should meet up in a more central location, so I feel safer.

He told me that he'd rather be careful now that he's part of the White Fang.

I told him I want to be careful as the White Fang potentially doesn't like me.

He told me that he's part of the White Fang and that he likes me.

I said that he said he's trying to distance himself from most of the White Fang.

He called me an idiot.

I called him an idiot.

And we got nowhere.

So henceforth I'm coming to the warehouse he mentioned so hyped up on adrenaline I feel like I injected 50mg of pure caffeine into my eyeballs.

Seriously, I'm about to go full superhero and start shooting lasers out of my eyes I'm so paranoid.

It was kind of a middle ground decision. Jae didn't exactly want to leave where he was staying out of fear that somehow some law enforcement would find where he is, and I didn't want to wander into some White Fang compound for obvious reasons.

I may be a faunus, but some of them are god awful beings.

And as such there was a tense atmosphere as I stepped through the slightly ajar wide open doors into the warehouse, massive lightbulbs slightly alleviating my fear as I step into the warm orange light which is a welcome change from the frigid sunlight that coats Atlas.

Glancing around I see Jae pacing around a steel box a fair distance away from me, as he turns to me with a small smile on his face. Yet I just frown in turn blinking several times at what I see. His normal attire that he would wear on missions has been replaced with a white chestguard, and black coat with red lines on it, colors representative of the White Fang.

Instinctually my mind is ringing with fear. Remember how someone in RWBY said how those are the exact colors of Grimm? Well, that plays an effect, the fear of Grimm is so ingrained in our thoughts that just by the colors alone, my body is already perked up and ready for something to attack me.

He seems to notice that slightly as he steps to the side, angling himself to cover a White Fang mask, which I am barely able to spot before he blocks it.

At the very minimum his weapon is laid to the side, the same as it was all those years ago, albeit slightly worn from repeated use, the bright orange paint that he previously used to color, turning a more burnt orange, with several parts of the paint chipped off, and several color differences due to equipment change over the year.

At this point, there is a tense awkwardness between us, as I stare at up unhappily and he seems to mentally shuffle in what to do.

"So…" he starts, drawing out the 'o', "How're you doing?"

I audibly sigh and start walking over to him, closing the large gap, saying, "Good," along the way, biting my lip at the end in whether or not I want to give a more proper greeting.

Ultimately I don't, my uncontrolled emotions at work.

Jae seems to stop for a moment before sighing as well, dropping his partially friendly exterior and says, "you didn't have to come, you do realize that," leaning against the box he was previously pacing around, crossing his arms in the process.

I stop for a momentary second slightly surprised at this harsher tone compared to his normal friendly tone.

I instantly start to partially regret being a bit dismissive towards him.

"I'm sorry," I half-mutter half-say, "I'm just…" I bite my lip, "I think life is starting to become a bit more active."

He now smiles again, albeit not to his normal state, as he grins, "You can say that again."

I chuckle slightly, partly reminiscing about the more simple times, "interesting isn't always good," I respond, hoping to elicit an argument from him in memory of the ones we would have.

He seems to catch the hint and straightens up with a large smile on his face, most likely to say some snarky reply, only to frown and tense up for a second. The fact that he is this serious indicating that whatever he wanted to talk about was important.

"You wanted to talk," I finally continue, heading back to the reason this conversation wanted to happen in the first place.

He nods slightly as he looks at the floor, a blank expression crossing his face, "something is happening inside the White Fang," he starts, "before you ask, I'm not sure what, but I'd be as blind as you if I couldn't tell."

Part of me wants to say some clever retort to that but I stay still and simply reply, "What's going on?"

He runs his hand through his hair, "there is massive mobilization within the White Fang. People are being reassigned to different locations, there has been an increase in weapon raids, dust shipments are being looted left and right, all that such. I… I know they already did that stuff," he says frowning and looking at the ground, "But something changed within the leadership as now everything is shifted into overdrive."

While I try to keep a blank face I mentally scream on the inside, thinking that this may be where the events of RWBY are starting to take place, meaning that Cinder may have already recruited Adam, which can't possibly be good.

"What do you know?" I ask, wanting to pry slightly deeper to see if my thought is true.

He sighs loudly, "Again, I'm not sure. They don't trust me enough to tell me anything important. Hell, all they told me was to keep on doing what I'm already doing."

Well, that doesn't really help.

I slightly diverge from the topic at hand out of blind curiosity, "What is it that you do?"

He chuckles slightly, "I'm training new recruits. Generally teaching people who've never fought before how to use and work a weapon. Relatively simple stuff."

"If they're using you as a teacher they must be desperate."

He lets out a bark of laughter that seems to partially alleviate some stress, "yeah well, I'm the best they got."

However, as soon as he finishes that, he hesitates slightly, something seeming to overcome him, "You okay there?" I ask, seeing that hesitation.

"It's… it's nothing," he says waving a hand dismissively.

While I know he's not telling the truth I let it slide.

He stops there and looks at me, "So back to the point," I eventually say, "If you don't know what's going on, then what are you planning to do."

This is where his expression goes from blank to puzzled, "I'm… I'm not sure. Like I said, things are acting up, and I don't know if I should start telling Ironwood what's going on, sit around and wait to see what happens, or just help the White Fang."

He stops there and the meaning of the statement is clear to me, he's asking, "What do you think I should do?"

I walk up to him and lean against the same box he's leaning against, "I'm not sure," I start waving a hand, "I'd probably just wait for the time being. See what's going on, then make a decision."

He pauses for a second but then shakes his head, "I get where you're coming from… but, I feel like something big is coming, yet I just don't know what," he stops for a second and stands up from the box, as he starts pacing back and forth, "I don't want to wait, only to realize that it's too late."

He then turns to me, "Hold up a second. Don't you know about the future? Wasn't there a TV show or something from your world about this? Do you know what's going to happen?"

I blink and then mentally curse, remembering how I told him that I was reincarnated all those years ago.

I think about bs'ing my way through this, afraid of telling him, only to realize that his question was as much as a demand as it was a question, and since I don't want him to mistrust me I just start, "Yes, and no. I have an idea of what will happen, but I'm not sure if it's true or not."

"Well go on," he says looking at me with intense eyes, telling me that he wants an answer at that moment.

"If I'm correct we still have 2 years to wait, but you're right in the fact that something big is happening," I continue after taking a breath to compile my thoughts, "the short version is that Adam Taurus recently made a deal with a woman named Cinder Fall."

I pause for a second to check if there's any recognition on his face at her name. There isn't.

"I can't remember what exactly happens, but I know that in 2 years, Cinder Fall, with the help of the White Fang, will launch an attack on Vale, destroying the CCT tower, rendering the entire world in a communication blackout, and destroying Beacon Academy, as well as many of the people there."

I look at him, only to get no response. He doesn't even look back as he raises his hand to his face and starts pacing around again.

"Shit. Fuck. Fuck. Mother fucking… the fucking bitch!" he growls from under his teeth, "what… what exactly is she trying to do?" he demands violently twisting towards me.

I take a step back, "I… I think she's just trying to divide the kingdoms. Make them easier to take.

"Well then how do we kill her?" he asks, glancing towards his weapon.

"It's not as easy as you'd think," I start, "she's got two bodyguards, one specializing in stealth, and manipulating the mind, one a good endurance fighter. I wouldn't say they're that tough, but they're there nonetheless. Beyond that, there are two main problems, first is finding her, second is the fact that…"

Hold up...

Fuck.

Fuck

Fucking fuckidy fuck fuck fuck.

I'm so goddamn retarded. I completely forgot. How could I be so stupid?

I forgot about Amber.

* * *

Well… I sent a message to Ozpin.

It… it took a while to write. See, I've always had a problem with procrastination, as shown slightly by the fact I forgot about Amber in the first place, so my process of writing the message took way too long out of awkwardness and an unwillingness to write.

Still, it was eventually something I was able to get done, mainly through the fact that I realized if I didn't start acting I would only compound the issue. So, nothing like the possibility of death being a motivator.

But at the same time, it leads to another issue. General Ironwood most likely saw that message or has someone under his control who saw that message. As much as I wish I could say I'm some hacking mastermind, I'm not, so that message was in no way encrypted if that's even possible.

Again I don't know technology as much as I'd like to, and I don't have the time to learn it.

An effective comparison would be sending highly classified information on terrorist's WMD's through Gmail.

While this does pose the threat of someone like Salem or Cinder seeing this, I first doubt they have the technological expertise and doubt that they'd even be spying on my emails in the first place, so I can assume, for the sake of ease, that she doesn't know.

But Ironwood on the other hand… I know his intentions are good, what I'm scared is how he will achieve his perfect world because I know with a nigh 100% certainty that somehow he saw that message.

If I'm kidnapped by a government operative and told, "What's up motherfucker, enjoy eating shit and never seeing the sky again," I doubt I'd enjoy that much. So how do I avoid this?

Again, I could always assume that Ironwood just never saw it, but I know I'd probably be wrong, and paranoia would just play a part anyway. And it already has, I've hidden a knife within the main room of the dorm and my bedroom, I've physically moved my bed next to the window, I glance over my shoulder every other second when using my scroll.

I know that if push were to come to shove, fighting my way out wouldn't be the best way to deal with the situation, if a good way at all, but it is slightly comforting at least to have the faux protection there.

I'm losing my mind, aren't I?

* * *

You know how when you are stressed out with things happening, and then for one day, you decide to ignore all the things that are going on and just relax, knowing that you'll come to regret it later.

Well, I'm doing that. Today.

There's no real reason for it happening, it just happened that I woke up and decided, I can't do this today.

Thus, with little classes today, I'm now resting on the couch in our dorm, watching some show on a laptop with Ray. The show wasn't all that important, just one of those comedic shows that could always lighten the mood.

Actually, it reminds me a lot of those shows back on Earth, like Park and Recreation, or Friends. This show is something about a group of people being stranded on a spaceship with a slightly homicidal AI.

For as much as the subject would make a good movie, somehow these people managed to make a comedy TV show from it. Still, this is probably the golden standard of Remnant TV shows. It seems that on Remnant, the entertainment business never really kicked off as much as it did on Earth.

As stated you obviously still have shows and such, but they are much fewer and far between, and most of them are mediocre at best. Most of the entertainment feels somehow derived from the huntsmen, for example, the Vytal Event.

I remember reading a while back, in fact, that this trend was started during the Great War. Apparently with such a huge war going on, morale and enlisting was at a low. So some of the kingdoms, namely the Kingdom of Vale, commissioned authors and artists to create works of arts glorifying huntsmen and the such

This also tied in with the creation of radio's at the beginning of the war, and the development of the television at the end of the war. While both were intended at first to be used for military tactics, they eventually bled into the civilian's life, and with the new found means of entertainment, the respective governments were quick to create propaganda.

And supposedly that has continued till today, and while it has changed a bit, I guess some traditions like the naming, and this is deeply rooted in society.

Or maybe it's just me. There was a lot of movies, video games, and books about the war back on Earth, so maybe it's just me being an outsider.

… Well, one way or another it's relaxing to think about something that isn't fighting.

"Hey," Ama says peeking out from the communal bathroom, dripping slightly with shower water, and thankfully covered largely by a red towel, which avoids unnecessary awkwardness, "did we ever get our clothes cleaned?"

Ray looks at her for a second, and nods, responding, "Uh huh, it's next to the door," he says motioning over to the door with a jab of this thumb.

There's a brief silence as Ray and I go back to watching the show as Ama just stares there and watches us.

"Ahem," she coughs into her free hand, "would one of you be as kind to bring me my clothes so I don't have to walk across the floor naked and dripping wet."

"Naked and wet," I comment offhandedly, glancing at her for a second, "describes Ama perfectly."

"Ahem!" she coughs again, not so subtly saying that she isn't in the mood.

I turn to Ray who in turn looks at me as we mentally battle to see who's going to give in. It was a glorious fight, fought between dual bastions of mental strength, a battle to be known...

"You're closer," he eventually says, out of the blue, winning the trade.

"Lazy," I in turn mutter under my breath, standing up to walk the excruciatingly long 5 feet to the doorway, picking up the warmed clothing, slightly relishing the feeling of the soft fabric.

Walking over to Ama, making sure to stop at every little thing possible just to annoy her, I eventually get to her, the large pile of clothing obstructing most of my view.

"Thanks," she says nonchalantly, with a hint a joking annoyance, wrapping her free arm under the clothes and into my view.

My brain stops momentarily.

On her hand, which is now facing me, lies a tattoo. It wouldn't be as weird as it is if it weren't for the fact it is the exact same tattoo I have on my hand… the tattoo I got from the alternate dimension.

Both Ray and Ama seem to notice that something is wrong as Ray leans forward to pause the show and Ama puts on a half-smile saying, "What's wrong?"

I don't respond as I glance down while raising my hand, comparing the two tattoos.

They are nigh the same.

My mind reels with thought. How have I never seen that before? If I were to think of it, most of the time she seems to wear gloves, but beyond that… I had to have seen her hand at some point? Or do I just never notice it before now? Did she ever see mine? She had to, I lied to her personally saying that I got it thinking it looked cool. She knew I had this tattoo, but she hid hers.

Ama seems to catch on as she literally drops the clothing in her hand, the previously neat and folded pile of clothing turned into a sprawling mess of cloth. She follows my eyes, looking at her mark, then mine, then meeting my eyes directly, and without words, I tell her one single thing, I want answers.

Ray, now even more concerned walks up following both of our eyes and seeing the similar tattoos, but as far as I know, he doesn't know what they mean, although I do quickly turn to check if he has a mark on his hand.

He doesn't.

Still, he isn't stupid and notices the identical marks which seem to be the topic of interest. "Is something wrong?" he asks, as Ama and I stare at each other.

There's a brief mental tension before we look away from each other, me looking down at the ground, thinking of the mental implications, and Ama looking at Ray, saying, "I'll explain in 5 minutes."

She then turns to me, "If you want answers, be there. I'm going to get dressed," she finishes off picking up her mess of clothes.

She turns to walk into her room, closing the door, leaving Ray and I out here in various levels of confusion, but at the last second before the door closes Ama opens it back up and glances out, and says, "also Ray…" but stops momentarily, hesitating slightly as if to decide if it was worth finishing that sentence, "invite Nicole."

* * *

"So, what the hell is going on here?" Nicole says walking through the door and into the room?

Ama, Ray, and I turn to face her all from our various spots. Ama in the middle of her bed, me on the side, and Ray sitting on a chair in the corner of the room.

"Were you in class?" I ask, slightly surprised at her outburst.

"No I was just…" she starts, "No I wasn't. Sorry for getting pissed."

There's a brief second of silence before Nicole continues, "But I still want to know what's going on."

Ama glances at me and asks, "Is it okay if I bring them up to speed?"

I nod.

"Okay…" she mutters, "so how do I start?"

"To start it off... " she says, "I wasn't born in Remnant, perse…"

For a moment we all are silent, I included.

"What?!" the rest of the three of us question in unison.

Ama briefly turns to look at me, surprise in her eyes. There's something I obviously don't know here, that she thought I knew.

"Hold up," she says raising a hand, "lemme explain first."

She pauses for a second to let everyone get situated.

"Okay, to start this out, Caerus here already knows this, but there are other dimensions. Remnant itself is one of those dimensions. Now see, these marks here," she says raising her hand, as I follow in suit, showing the two of the marks, "mean that we are physically capable of traveling through dimensions."

There's a brief pause before Ama continues, "and that leads me into what I said. I physically wasn't born in this dimension. I was born in a separate dimension, and I moved here, with my village, a while ago."

Nicole crosses her arms and asks accusingly, "Why did you keep that a secret then? Especially from Caerus, from what I can tell if you both are so buddy-buddy."

Ama sighs, "Long story short, there's a reason why my people left our dimension, while you'd think that because Caerus and I are in some way the same, in truth I was trying to be cautious around him, no offence," she says to which I shook my head, "I was just being careful."

There's a brief pause before Nicole turns to me, "What about you then?"

"What about me?" I return.

"How do you fit in this?" she answers.

"Well, I was born in Remnant…" I start before Ama interrupts me.

"I…" she starts, "You can't have."

Immediately I become defensive as I turn to her, "What do you mean I can't have?"

"I mean you physically can't have," she continues, "Well you could have, but… Caerus, what do you know about this mark?" she says raising her hand.

"Not much," I admit, "I was told…" I start before she interrupts me again.

"Hold up," she says, "who told you?"

Did I reveal too much?

"Why does this matter?" I ask partially wondering why it is so important and wanting to hide the mystery man's identity.

"Caerus," she says with a heavy importance, "Who told you."

I mentally stare at her resisting, but give in, my curiosity taking over, "there was this guy, he talks about himself as if he is a god…"

"Hold up," she says, "is he related to the orb?"

"Yes," I admit, assuming that we are thinking about the same thing.

"Fuck," she shouts turning away, "sorry for going off track Ray and Nicole," I briefly turn to them who are watching this confrontation with varying levels of interest and concern, "but I can't tell you how important this is, you can't trust him," Ama continues, "He's very dangerous, and only works for himself. He does not care about you at all, and will only hurt you to help himself. "

I open my mouth to say something but she continues, "This mark," she says motioning to the mark, "I'm guessing he said he gave it to you."

I nod.

"He doesn't do that, this mark isn't his, it predates even him. This mark is given to humans who can physically travel through the dimensions, this mark means you have enough independent power to open a portal. He did not give that to you, he wants you to think you owe him something. Do not listen to him."

There's a pregnant second as I digest that information, "If this mark isn't his…" I say slowly, "then whose… or what's is it?"

She closes her eyes and sighs, "I don't know. No one knows, not even that man."

"How old is the man?" Nicole asks from out of the blue, "and can we stop calling him 'the man'?"

"He's relatively young for his kind. I'd say several thousands of years old at the least," Ama replies, "and well, he doesn't have a name, my people called him 'Gorgon' but that was more of a placeholder."

"Then does Gorgon…" Nicole starts but Ama raises a hand to stop her.

"Sorry, but, before we continue," she says pausing for a second to seemingly make sure she wants to continue, "I want going to show you something, but only if all of you promise to never tell anyone," Ama says looking at us with desperate eyes.

We briefly go from person to person. Ray nodding yes, Nicole saying, "I promise," and me also nodding.

Ama briefly sighs before reaching under her bed and pulling out a bag, the exact bag that was with her during the training, my mind immediately connecting the dots. And sure enough, out of the back, she pulls out the Kael Orb.

By brain nearly snaps in half.

It was her. I should have known.

"This orb," Ama starts, "Houses Gorgon. Keeping him under relative lock… although apparently not enough," she says looking at me. I shrug.

"How… how did that happen?" Ray asks, speaking for the first time.

"A while ago, I'd say almost a hundred years ago, in my dimension, another being tried to combat Gorgon over control for the dimension, my ancestors didn't like Gorgon, so they sided with this new being, and managed to trap him in the orb."

"Then what happened?" I ask, thinking about how the dimension is now.

"Well, the peace we had didn't last long," Ama continues, "this new being quickly turned on us, and there was a quick war, where we killed the other being before the entire dimension was rendered nearly inhabitable."

"That's it?" I ask.

"Well that's the very short version," she says, "My people came here to escape that dimension."

"Then why take the orb with you?" Nicole asks a little bit of malice in her voice.

"Well…" Ama starts, "the reason I'm here is because I'm learning to kill these beings, and I'm keeping him with me because as soon as I can, I'm killing him."

There's a second of silence as we all digest that, I personally surprised at how the fact the man casually failed to mention that.

"Still doesn't make sense though," I say, "It would be more logical to keep it with people who know how to keep him under lock and key instead of keeping him with you."

"My people…" she says, "are very paranoid. They'd rather keep the orb with me and hope I destroy it, and have me suffer the consequences if I fail, then keep the orb and possibly have them suffer."

"That's a dickish move," I say.

"Well yeah," she shrugs, "but I'm the best they got so far."

No one says anything for a short period.

"Now any questions?" Ama asks looking at us.

"What happened to the invader being?" I asked after a brief pause.

"If your dimension was controlled by the Gorgon and then attacked by another being, why hasn't our dimension been invaded yet," Nicole asks.

"I… I'm not sure," Ama admits, "my best guess is that there is a being defending it, protecting it from outside harm. But beyond that… I'm not sure."

While I don't say anything, my mind immediately flies to a single person. Ozpin. Could he possibly be defending this dimension from Salem? That would make sense at least, and explain why it hasn't been invaded. Or at least why it hasn't been conquered.

I don't mention that, however, not sure what to do with this new information.

"Anything else?" Ama asks again.

"Can we travel through dimensions?" Nicole asks, gesturing to Ray who looks expectantly.

Ama takes a deep breath before starting, "The short answer is yes you physically can," she says.

She pauses a second before continuing, "but I'm guessing you're asking if you can get the mark."

Nicole and Ray nod together.

"So this'll take a bit of explaining," she says, "see, we as humans are fine-tuned to a dimension. Our bodies and minds are naturally locked to that dimension, so when we travel dimensions something is shuffled around. Something that allows us to recognize and travel to other dimensions. So yes, you could physically learn, but the problem is that it takes a whole lot of time to learn."

A pause, "See the reason why I think it's impossible for Caerus to be born in Remnant is because I don't know of anyone on Remnant who is physically capable of traveling between dimensions. You would have to be born, taken to another dimension then put back here, which doesn't make any sense. Most people like us," she again gestures to both of us, "are born in one dimension and then put in another one generally because our birth dimension is too dangerous. Because of that, this constant living in another dimension accelerates the process of the mark and allows us to more quickly develop the ability to travel between dimensions. It makes that chink, that causes us to develop the ability, to accelerate production."

She pauses to take a breath and all of us think.

Ama turns to me again, "If you were born in Remnant, you would either have to be at least 80 years old minimum and extremely talented in traveling between dimensions. Or, as I said, you would have to be born in another dimension, because compared to me, you're extremely talented in creating portals. See, in comparison to you, I can maybe create one a day, but with huge physical and mental repercussions, and from the little I've seen, you can do it easily, and plus," she says raising her hand yet again, "Your mark is more advanced compared to mine."

I look at both of the marks, this time seeing what she means. Mine is a lot more detailed with more hard crisp lines, and a deeper black color.

"How easy is it for you?" Ray asks turning to me, as I look at my mark.

"Well," I start looking at the mark, "I get mild headaches when I create portals, my aura gets drained slightly, that's the main drawbacks, however, if I create many in a short time period, I risk passing out."

"See," Ama comments, "You'd have to be some dimension traveling god to have been born in Remnant and have developed this ability."

"It doesn't make sense though," I respond shaking my head, "I wasn't born in another dimension… I was born and lived here my entire life… in… an… orphanage."

Oh my god.

Ama connects two and two as well and asks, "I'm assuming no one ever knew where you were born?"

I just shake my head, too deep in thought to fully respond.

Does this mean my parents are from another dimension? That I was born there and taken here for safety. I mean, that makes sense, but that seems to astronomically rare that I'm surprised it even happened. I mean…

I was originally born on Earth. That mystery man said that even he doesn't know of the Earth dimension it's so far off.

That's why I can travel dimensions.

"There's… there's something I want to tell y'all," I say not looking up to see them, "but only if you promise to keep it a secret because this is probably the most personal thing you'll ever hear from me."

* * *

 **To: hmasterozpin**

 **From:** **cferrum**

 **Subject: Fall Maiden**

 **Dear Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy,**

 **My name is Caerus Ferrum, and I'm currently a first-year student at Atlas Academy run by General Ironwood. I ask that you trust my following words, as I only have the best intentions for humanity. I would like to preface what I'm about to say with the fact that I know the true story of the Maidens, and how they are very real people with very real dangers. And Amber, the Fall Maiden, is in grave danger. A woman named Cinder Fall is hunting her down for her powers, and with the help of Salem she will partially succeed, gaining a large portion of Amber's powers. I'm not sure of the exact details, but I know it will happen in an open field when she's unprotected. I only ask that you trust me here, and go out of your way to ensure Amber's safety. If it's already too late, then I'm very, very sorry.**

 **Best wishes,**

 **Caerus Ferrum.**

 _ **11 Drafts Composed.**_

 _ **3 Day Period Between First and Final Draft Composition**_

 **(LB)**

 **Something something something this took a while.**

 **Like Jesus, how long has it been since I uploaded *** _ **Checks**_ *** Dear god the last time I uploaded was in October. That's like a year ago. (Because it's like 2018 now, and that was during 2017… you know… I'm very lonely).**

 **But really, as stale as this is getting, I am truly sorry. It was laziness, writer's block, and a large break, (and possibly R6) which contributed to this chapter is so late. All of which is my fault. But… I like this chapter. As long as it took, I'm quite proud of how this came out. Does it have faults, well of course it does. Should there be more for how long this took, yeah, but still… I like this.**

 **Also, considering how long this took. Is there anything you guys want? Anything you guys think I'm doing wrong, or something you want to see in my story. I do read every review multiple times, and if I don't respond it is most likely due to laziness, but I try to consider every review. (As long as you leave** _ **constructive**_ **criticism).**

 **Anyways, review!**

 **Until next time (Hopefully that isn't half a god damn century from now.)**

 **P.S. Rip Weiss**


	17. Chapter 17

"What'd you recommend?" Ama asks from beside me.

I glance at the menu briefly. "I personally like the steak, but it's really expensive, and again," I point to my ears, "it might just be because I'm a faunus."

"You didn't answer my question."

I shrug, "I dunno then. They have really good garlic bread."

The couple of days has been off… to say the least.

It's kind of weird to think about. I've always had this notion that something is either plainly good or bad. In this case I would have thought that telling my deepest secret would have been all good. And that's not to say I regret doing it, Nicole has been noticeably more social and accepting, and Ray… well, he's still antisocial. But at the same time… it's hard to judge immediately.

It was me, in the end, who suggested that we go out for a team lunch. I simply recommended the place Jae and I use to eat, and Ama, Ray and I were able to peer pressure Nicole into joining us.

At least we're getting something done.

"What are you getting Nicole?" Ama asks plainly.

She puts down her menu, "Tomato bisque."

There's a pregnant pause that Nicole seems to enjoy as we expect her to continue the conversation.

"Ok, cool I guess," Ama responds, "what about you Ray?"

He blinks, "I'm uh, I'm not that hungry. I'm just getting bread and butter."

"You sure about that?" I ask peering over Ray's shoulder and at his menu, "we're paying off of a team fund. You can order whatever you want."

"You're the one that told me not to order the steak because it was too expensive," Ama comments.

"Not helping," I snip back, "and I never said that."

"Thanks," Ray interrupts, "but I'm fine."

Knowing Ray he's the kind of person to say he's fine if he has terminal cancer.

"I'll order the cheese plate to share," I say before he can continue on his crusade about not being hungry.

I put gather the menus and put them in the corner of the table. My scroll buzzes in my pocket but I ignore it.

"Ok!" Ama starts rubbing her hands together excitedly, "so since we're starting a new era of peace and love among the group I think we should discuss team tactics."

Nicole frowns, "I came here to chat, not to discuss fighting techniques."

I nod, "For once I agree with her. Let's take some time to think about something besides fighting for once."

Ama rolls her eyes, "I'm not saying we discuss fighting techniques…"

"That is literally what you just said," Nicole interrupts.

"... I'm just saying we just chat."

"Did you get this idea from the Atlesian pamphlet for team guidance?" Nicole jokes.

I shrug, "I mean, we're kind of going around in circles at this point."

Ama feigns disappointment, "Guys c'mon. I'm trying my best here as a team leader."

"Is this also on the pamphlet?" Nicole asks.

Ray raises his hand slowly and we one by one stop talking and look at him expectantly, "I for one am curious about team tactics."

"Aha!" Ama exclaims, "so we're now 2 for 2!"

"You just said we wouldn't talk about this," Nicole exasperates.

I facepalm, "Guys. Can we not do this now?"

"Fine. Fine," Ama says with a wave of her hand, "so we're 2 for 2."

"Did you just not hear what I said!" I exasperate.

Ama looks past me and I glance behind me to see the waiter walking up to our table, "Are you ready to order?" he asks.

"Uh, yeah," I reply, "I'll have the cheese plate and the hamburger."

"3 sides of garlic bread for me."

"Tomato bisque if it's available."

"Just bread. Thanks."

We all mentally reconvene.

"So where were we?" Ama asks.

"You not listening to me." I deadpan.

"Oh yeah! So I just say we just discuss team tactics."

I look at Nicole who just shrugs at me. We have a mental conversation of us both agreeing to give up as we're not seeming to get anything done with Ama.

"Fine."

"Do as you wish."

"Finally!" Ama rubs her hands together, "so what I was planning to say is that all we have in terms of teamwork so far is just me saying ' _Hey Caerus do this thing_ '. It works but it's simple and once we face a real challenger it'll collapse fast."

She pauses, "And that means…" Nicole asks.

"We need more distinct roles."

I interrupt, "We kind of already have that. You're frontline. Ray stays at range. Nicole provides support. And I kind of do whatever."

"Exactly!" Ama says.

"I think she's gone insane," I whisper to Nicole.

Ama continues, "All we have are basic designations. What I'm saying is that we go more in depth."

"So what are you thinking?" I question.

"Take this example. At the moment I'm frontline, as you agreed. But at the same time I have my rifle, which shoots large enough bullets to take down a bullhead. But at the moment I can't use it because I'm busy holding the front line."

"Ok fine, I see you're point," I concede, "so what are you thinking."

She grins, "This is preliminary so it's up for debate, but what I've been thinking is that you 3," she gestures to the rest of us, "are good at zoning. Instead of just fighting until we hopefully win, I say we instead work to control the battlefield and win that way."

"This isn't exactly a new idea though," Nicole comments.

"You're not listening to me," Ama quips, "You can only control so much of a battlefield with a smg. If we have Ray create a toxic cloud or a wall of fire we have much more control."

"Okay fine, I see the point…"

* * *

"What'd y'all think of the place?" I ask. Sliding a credit chit into the check.

"I liked it," Ama replies.

"I've had better," Nicole comments.

I frown but ignore her response, "What about you Ray?" I ask noticing he remained quiet.

"Oh yeah," he perks up, "I liked it."

The waiter comes and grabs the check.

"We should have team lunches more often," Ama says half demand, half question.

I grin at that thought, "I agree with her here."

"I'm okay with that," Nicole says.

"So it's a deal then!" Ama exclaims.

Nicole shrugs, "If it makes you happy."

The waiter returns with the credit chit, and I hand it back to Ama. We each gives our thanks to the waiter, and head outside, taking a mandatory second to adjust to the biting cold of outside.

I take this moment to check my scroll while each one of us files out.

My heart skips a beat.

" _Caerus are you there?_ " Jae - 2:33 P.M.

" _Hello?_ " Jae - 2:35 P.M.

" _We need to talk now_ " Jae - 2:36 P.M.

 _Missed Call from Jae_ 2:37 P.M.

" _Call me back now. This is important_ " Jae - 2.37 P.M.

" _Please reply._ " Jae - 2:39 P.M.

" _If you are nearby the docks leave now_ " Jae - 2:43 P.M.

It's 3:11 right now.

"Hey you okay there?" Ama asks putting her hand on my shoulder.

It takes me a second to remember what I was doing, and another to realize I was probably in a trance for half a minute.

I put my scroll in my pocket and try to calm my nerves enough to appear normal, "Why don't you guys head back. I need to run an errand."

Before they can even reply I set off trying to get far enough from them so I can call Jae in privacy. It is horribly suspicious but at this moment I'm too paranoid to worry about that.

I call Jae.

And call him again.

And on the third time he finally answers, "Shit, Jae where are you? Are you okay?"

"Caerus," I hear him reply, out of breath, "I'm been trying to get your attention for the past hour. But… shit. Are you at the docks?"

I squint in confusion even though I know he can't see me, "No. Why would I be there…"

He half interrupts me, "It doesn't matter. Just stay away from there."

"What's going on," I interrogate, "I'm on my way."

"Are you not listening to me?" he asks, "don't fucking come."

I pause in my tracks hearing the angry desperation in his voice, "what's going on?"

"I don't know," I can hear the anxiety in his voice, "I just know some high ranking White Fang Members left with enough explosives to level a sky scraper."

"And they're heading to the docks?"

"Yes… no… I don't know. Okay!" I can practically hear him pacing around, "I saw them leave towards the docks. I don't know where they are. Just stay away from there."

I bite my lip gently in thought, as there is a moment of respite as I digest the information"so then what do we do?"

I can hear him sigh through the scroll, "At the moment nothing. With the amount of explosives they have it's too dangerous to follow them."

I frown, "We can't just do nothing as they plan to blow something to kingdom come."

"It's not exactly like I want this either. But we can't exactly save the world if we're dead."

"Nor can we save the world if the world is being blown up!"

"Are you trying to get yourself killed!" he demands, the anger in his voice stunning me, "I can't tell if you're joking or you're too stupid to get what's going on. Something bad is about to happen, and I have no idea what it is. Can't you get it through your head that it's better to fucking live and fight another day than die?"

I hold my phone away from my ear and glance down the street. In the distance I can barely make out the outline of warehouses of the Atlesian docks. It's hard to visualize the danger when everything seems to calm. Maybe I am just not understanding what's going on.

"Shit… fine," I surrender, "try not to get yourself killed."

"Holy fuck," I can hear him gasp in relief, "thanks though, for actually listening to me. I'll try to talk to you…"

His voice cuts out as I'm blasted from behind by a wall of air. I twist around and half to squint at the sight. In contrast to the gray and blue Atlesian streets stands a large red fireball. The sight turns off my brain as I just stare unable to think.

It takes my brain several seconds to even comprehend what's going on, and even longer for my senses to turn back on.

And like that, I'm brought back into the world, and it feels like everything that happened in the past 5 seconds slams into me at the exact same time.

A bellowing explosion makes my ears feel like they were struck by lightning. The air smells noticeably different, an almost burning ash smell, distinct to fire dust. People are either staring in shock as well or are on the ground trying to make themselves as small as possible. The fireball seems to crawl into the sky, illuminating the area like a second sun and even raising the temperature several degrees. I find myself frozen in place as the ice cold feeling of adrenaline seems to thaw me slowly. My hands clench, and unclench, and it takes several repetitions before I realize I have my scroll in hand.

I raise the phone to my ear faster than I've ever done anything before, "Jae. Jae. Shit, Jae, are you there?" I ask. Only to be greeted with static.

Before I even realize what I'm doing I'm sprinting towards the fireball, the world fading away as I focus on the scroll in my hand and the ever growing sun that I'm approaching.

The several minutes it takes to reach the epicenter of the explosion feels like only a couple seconds. The area around feels like the apocalypse. A thick muddy haze, raining pieces of soot and ground up concrete.

"Jae!" I shout at the top of my lungs, cupping my hands at my mouth.

"Jae!" I shout again, "Can you hear me!"

I sprint in who knows where ignoring the exhaustion that bleeds in my legs, "Jae!"

I'm about to shout again when I round a corner and dodge on instinct as I almost run into something.

I blink and focus on what I almost ran into and for a second wish I had decided to stay back. There's no mistake, I'm facing the White Fang members Jae mentioned.

They are each dressed in a unique uniform, one with a different mask resembling an angry spirit, and a leather suit on. Another, notably female with a robe and fiery red hair, and a blank mask and the last wearing a combat vest and the classic White Fang mask.

"A faunus," spirit mask notes. I'm unable to tell if he says that with interest or boredom.

We stare at each other, as I slowly try to back away.

Red Head turns in my direction and responds with equal leadership and equal determination, "He doesn't matter. Kill him," and looks away.

I widen my eyes in realization what's going on before spirit mask charges at me.

Adrenaline saves my life as it recognizes the dagger he pulls from his suit and grabs a piece of nearby sheet metal to block the attack.

Adrenaline only gets me so far however as my attacker uses his free hand to grab the sheet metal and pull it to the side, simultaneously swinging low to hit my leg.

I awkwardly jump and pull myself away with a nearby support pillar, discharging an electricity blast in his direction hoping to cause some damage.

My attacker reaches me as I land, giving me no time to recover. He does a wide swing and I raise my arm up to block his wrist but he feints and grabs my arm and does a straight jab.

I painfully twist my arm in such a way that I'm able to barely avoid the jab.

My twist positions myself so that I'm able to kick him, freeing my arm and gaining some distance. It's at this moment do I realize that he didn't completely miss as there is a gash now positioned firmly on the right side of my chest. My aura should have blocked that completely… instead it went all the way through.

I shake my head to rid myself of the thought as adrenaline turns an otherwise painful wound into a dull throb.

I raise my hands in defense expecting attack and instead come face to face with spirit mask.

He holds up the dagger to the light seemingly examining the blood now coating the dagger, and I swear I can almost hear him chuckle in delight.

What am I dealing with?

He charges again and I find myself finding another wound I didn't know what I had.

The way I twist my arm now severely limits my movement.

I grab a stray metal pole from nearby and try to back away.

He stabs, I deflect.

I try to counterattack, I completely wiff and he pushes forwards.

I try to swing in a wide arc to gain space but he uses his dagger to wrench the pipe out of my hand.

I use my other hand to discharge electricity into his chest. He simply uses his free hand to push my hand to the side sending the bolt careening towards a nearby wall.

He swings his dagger down at my shoulder as I try to move to the side.

My shoulder screams into pain and the world stops for a moment.

He backs off. And I glance at the wound in my peripheral vision. Unlike the other wound which was a graze at best, this wound is deep enough to possibly reach bone and is now oozing blood. The pain seems to rapidly shift between a searing burn to a dull throb every half second.

It's now do I actually realize how much danger I actually am in.

Realizing you may die soon is a surreal experience. In my past life I had enough time to come to terms with it, as well as I could, and that led to a peacefull death. As peacefull as an early death could be.

This was the exact opposite. This realization hit like a train at mach 7, I suddenly find my knees weak and unable to respond, and the world shrinking as my vision seems to shift.

 _ **BOOM**_

My ear drums shatter at the sound of gunfire, and I glance down expecting to see a hole in my chest.

There isn't one.

I glance back up and see my attacker backing up, there's a chunk of concrete in the ground where he was standing that's now missing.

I look at where the bullet would have come from.

"I told you not to come," Jae says from a side alley way.

My attacker seems to growl under his breath as he stares at Jae, "You!" he growls, "Jae, you betrayed us!"

Jae frowns and cocks his shotgun firing another time at spirit mask.

It misses, but pushes him further back.

Jae walks so he positions himself between me and my attacker. He cocks the shotgun yet again sending a red casing my direction.

Spirit mask eyes us for a second and straightens himself up, and uses his free hand to twist something on the butt of his dagger. As if on cue the dagger glows an orange color, flames dripping off of the side and sizzling as it touches the ground. Fire dust.

"Caerus, are you here!" I hear Ama shout from the sidelines.

It takes me an adrenaline addled moment for my brain to comprehend her voice and for me to connect the dots. My fears are only confirmed when I see her round the corner behind me. I try to mentally berate her at following me, only to see Ray and Nicole round the corner as well.

"Caer… oh shit," she starts, "what the hell is going on here?"

From behind spirit mask the other two White Fang members appear, the one with a combat vest now carrying two swords each one about as large as my entire body, and the Red head still weaponless.

The male of the two positions himself so to attack if anything starts while Red Head steps behind my attacker, puts her hand on his shoulder and whispers something in his ear.

There's a moment of thought for him before he whispers something back and turns back to us.

He grabs a red crystal from his pocket and chucks it at us. I instantly remember it as fire dust and my mind realizes the age old tactic he is trying.

It's basically in every huntsmen training manual ever, throw dust at them and make it explode. It's so well known because it works really well. Jae seems to have been expecting it as he shoots it out of the air with his shotgun, causing a large explosion between us kicking up dust and other debris.

A tense moment passes by as we expect an attack only to realize that the White Fang members are gone.

Any question to where they would have gone is immediately answered as a bullhead picks up from out of view and flies off.

I pause.

The last several minutes felt like a dream, and at that moment when I finally realize that I'm fine, it all comes crashing down, and I almost collapse.

Ama rushes forward and catches me before I hit the ground, "Shit, your bleeding. Hey, stay with me."

I blink once and then twice, "I'm… I'm fine," I mutter, "just give me a second."

I use her to steady myself and glance around me, "thanks for the help," I say.

Jae chooses this moment to interrupt, "as much as I love reunions," he drawls, "we need to move. The White Fang as as unpredictable as they are deadly."

Ama sends him a look of both anger and confusion, "And who are you?"

I wave a hand in between them, "Let's… let's not do this now. He's a friend Ama," I pause for a second, "I… I think we should go."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Ama asks, "you seem kinda loopy."

Jae walks up to me, "he's suffering from minor blood loss," he takes a closer look, "and maybe shock. Hard to tell."

What?

No, really?

I stop and try to straighten out my mind, there's little notch in the back of my mind that's bugging me. It feels like there is something I'm forgetting.

"Just gimme a second," I say straightening myself up, "I think we're forgetting something."

"He's delirious," Ama states.

I shake my head and look back at her, "No I think… I think that there's something we're forgetting."

I glance around as if something's going to pop out.

Nothing but cargo containers with the Schnee dust logo on them.

I shake my head trying to clear my thoughts.

Maybe I am just delirious at the moment.

I glance back up, there's something off in my mind though. Something I feel like I'm missing.

There's no one else nearby besides us. I don't hear anything, I don't think there are any threats.

What were those White Fang members doing here?

They were nearby a container when I found them, I couldn't tell if they were doing anything.

I find the container they were nearby, on it is a red X. Strange.

"Let's go," Ama says putting her hand on my uninjured shoulder to pull me away.

I push her off and examine the X from a distance, there's something on it. Something I can't quite make out, there's… some white material, and I think wires…

Oh shit

Oh SHIT.

"BOMB!" I shout twisting around trying to get as far away as possible.

Nicole, Ray and Jae were staying back and they seem to immediately get the message.

Ama's right in front of me and as I stare I can almost make out the second when she comprehends what I said.

Without thinking I dive and pull her to the side, trying to pull us behind a wide open wall.

There's a moment where I think it was just a false call but as soon as that moment passes there's a deafening sound.

And following that there's nothing.

* * *

The way I could tell something wasn't right is the fact that when I awoke, I felt perfectly fine.

It's weird, normally you think that if you feel bad something is off, but instead in this case it's the exact opposite. It's both cool and terrifying.

I stood up from the ground, and looked around. Everything was covered in some omnipresent fog, a deep blue hue that covered everything and made all the colors dull and made it harder to breath. Almost like being in a deep ocean.

The world seemed frozen around me, except I wasn't really even me. Staring down at myself I was nothing more than a congealed form of fog, the real me was lying on the ground in front of me, blood congealing under me, and my left side of my body covered in ash and soot.

Ama sat above me with, eyes and mouth wide open, examining my body.

Am I dead?

"You're not dead," a voice said from behind me, "yet."

I instantly recognize him, Gorgon.

Twisting around I'm greeted by an odd sight, he's in the same form I am in, a congealed mess of fog except every second it appears like he's being broken down and reforming, almost as if the fog can't seem to be happy with the form it's in and is constantly trying out new forms.

"Where am I?" I ask, my voice a whisper and a shout at the same time.

"The area between realms," he says looking into the sky, I follow with him, there's nothing but void, "I took you here."

"Why?" I ask, unsure of how to think about this confrontation.

He pauses and his form freezes for a second, the fog turning a dark shade of red for a brief second, "You're dying," he says.

"I'm what?"

"You were already suffering from minor blood loss and you're aura was already low," he continues, "You took the brunt of the explosion when it went off."

I connected the dots, it wasn't hard to make the connection.

"Then why did you bring me here," I asked, swallowing the pit in my throat.

"A deal," he states, "I will save your life."

"And in return?"

"You will help me."

"What do you mean?"

He pauses again, twitching violently as he flashes red again, "YOU DO NOT UNDER-" he shouts his voices echoing around me.

He pauses again and turns back to the blue color.

That was odd, if not scary.

"We both have a goal we cannot accomplish by ourselves. I want my home returned, you want Salem dead," he says, "we can help each other."

"So what specifically do you want then?" I ask pacing around the world.

"I want your word that when I ask for your help you'll come to help me."

"And you'll save my life if I do that?"

"Yes."

I pause, "What's the catch."

He pauses and flashes red yet again, "YOU ARE NOT IN THE PLACE TO QUESTION MY-".

He returns to blue.

"A contract, on the mark on your hand, reminding you of your promise."

"What kind of contract."

"The one that will be removed once you fulfill your deal."

I hold my breath and think.

He could in theory be bluffing about all of this, I could be fine and he's just lying. But looking at myself, even on the best outcome I'll still be severely injured. As much as I want to hate the thought, I am dying.

It's almost surreal, talking about myself dying as if I was someone else.

I guess I am really optionless.

"Fine, I accept."

He flashes red yet again and his form shifts, a blinding yellow light sprouts from behind me, and the mark on my hand is glowing. Slowly the mark expands and trails up my arm leaving black marks.

"I'll talk with you later," Gorgon continues.

Then the light surrounds me and I'm plunged into darkness yet again.

* * *

 **So it's been a while…**

 **I'll be honest I completely lost interest in writing and RWBY in general and wasn't sure if I was ever going to continue this story. Ultimately I managed to get back into RWBY by rewatching the series and My Turn being updates. (Shoutout to LE MAO XXIV even though he has an infinitely more successful story than mine)**

 **I think my lack of interest just boils down to two things. I was too hesitant to get anything done with the story so I felt like it was stagnating, and I always have the feel that I could do better in writing, but don't know how to.**

 **My solution to the first problem is literally just having things happen, like in this chapter. So hopefully this story will happen faster and we'll get done with things at a lot quicker pace. In terms of the second I just forced myself to push this chapter out. I went through so many versions of this chapter that I got tired of it and as stated had to force this one out, because of that this chapter isn't up to the standards I normally would've liked, so yeah...**

 **Anyways I think that's all I have to say at the moment. Again I'm so sorry for how long this took and hopefully I'll update soon again.**

 **Till next time.**


End file.
